India faces a setback over hosting the T20 World Cup
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This year's men's T20 World Cup link could be moved from India link to the United Arab Emirates the International Cricket Council said Tuesday.
The move appears to have been prompted by the rising number of Covid-19 cases in India link, although this was not mentioned directly in a statement issued by the global governing body.
"The ICC link board has requested management focus its planning efforts for the ICC link men's T20 World Cup link 2021 on the event being staged in the UAE link the possibility of including another venue in the Middle East," the statement said.
The ICC link added that a final decision on the host country for the October-November event would be taken later this month.
The statement came just two days after Indian cricket chiefs announced that the lucrative Indian Premier League T20 franchise tournament, suspended after a new Covid-19 wave hit India link, would be finished in the UAE link in September and October.
Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India link (BCCI) said it would ask the ICC link for more time to make a decision on whether India link, the sport's economic powerhouse and one of the leading on-field nations, could still stage the T20 World Cup link.
The IPL, the world's richest cricket tournament, was half-finished when it was halted on May 4 after a number of players and team officials caught the coronavirus despite being based in bio-secure bubbles.
About 160,000 people have died in India link since April 1 in a devastating wave.
There are fears the country could be hit by another surge later this year that may coincide with the current T20 World Cup link schedule.
The BCCI said, however, that it was moving link the remaining matches to the UAE link -- which staged all of last year's IPL -- -- because of the monsoon season and did not mention the pandemic. - APP/AFP
