Explained: Three reasons why BCCI shifted T20 World Cup 2021 to UAE from India

New Delhi, June 28: The BCCI president Sourav Ganguly announced on Monday (June 28) that the T20 World Cup 2021, which was scheduled to be held in India in October, has been shifted to the UAE. It came as little surprise too as the move has always been on the cards once the IPL 2021 was shifted out of the country because of the Covid-19 scenario.

"We (BCCI) will inform ICC today that we are shifting the T20 World Cup to UAE. The dates of the tournament, the ICC needs to decide," BCCI Secretary Jay Shah was quoted as saying by the ANI.

There are multiple reasons behind the moving of ICC T20 World Cup 2021 to UAE from India and here's an explainer by MyKhel.

1. Covid 19 situation in India

Though the coronavirus pandemic has past its peak during its second wave, there have been predictions about a possible third wave hitting the country. It has left the BCCI with little choice, as already several cricketers are unwilling to travel to India.

"Nobody can predict what will happen regarding the COVID-19 situation. As far as the T20 World Cup is concerned, today (June 28) was the deadline as we had to inform the ICC about our decision. So, there was a conference call between BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, Secretary Jay Shah, Treasurer Arun Dhumal, me and the Joint Secretary.

"We looked at the COVID-19 situation and nobody is sure what is going to happen after two-three months, looking at everything, it has been decided that Jay Shah and Ganguly will inform the ICC to move the tournament to UAE," said BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla.

2. Tax exemption tussle with Govt of India

"The BCCI President had informed the members during the virtual SGM that they were trying to get tax exemption from the Indian government in order to host the T20 World Cup in India. Without the tax exemption, the BCCI would have had to bear a burden of about Rs 1,000 crore while the revenue would remain the same irrespective of who hosts the event or where it is hosted.

"Ganguly had informed the BCCI (/topic/bcci) members that if the Indian board failed to get tax exemption, it would not be hosting the tournament in India," the official said. In fact, the ICC too had asked the BCCI to get a clearance from the Indian authorities about the tax exemption and it remained a major jarring point.

3. Why UAE as T20 WC venue

First of all, the ICC is headquartered in Dubai and they can work around the modalities and revenue sharing pattern in that country.

"UAE is an ideal venue after India. We all wanted to host it in India, but you know it is an international tournament and that too of big size, so it was very hard to predict what is going to happen with the COVID 19 situation, after due consideration, now the BCCI has decided to move the T20 World Cup to the UAE," said Shukla.

By its own experience during the IPL 2020, the BCCI knows it is much easier to arrange logistics and create bio-secure bubble in the UAE across four venues than in a much larger country like India where the T20 WC would have played across 9 venues.