ICC T20 World Cup could be postponed, IPL 2020 likely in that window

Bengaluru, May 22: The ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held between October 18 and November 15 in Australia later this year, could be postponed and the ICC is likely to make an official announcement in this regard in a week's time.

As per a report in Times of India, the representatives of the ICC member boards are to meet via video conference in the coming week. The borders of Australia is closed till mid of September because of the Coronavirus pandemic and the visitors are requested to undergo two weeks quarantine upon their arrival Down Under.

There are some other logistical restrictions imposed by the Australian government and that could hamper the ICC and Cricket Australia in piecing together a 16-team tournament.

The ICC will also discuss other options like Australia hosting the T20 WC in February-March 2021, India and Australia exchanging hosting rights for the T20 WC - Australia to host in 2021, India in 2022.

It has also been speculated that if the T20 World Cup indeed get postponed then that window could be used to conduct the IPL 2020, now postponed indefinitely because of the Covid 19.

Recently, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs has allowed reopening of stadiums and sports complexes across the country even though the nationwide lockdown was extended until May 31.

BCCI CEO Rahul Johri too had indicated that cricket in India could resume after the impending monsoon and the IPL 2020 features big on the plans. "IPL is one of the greatest engagers. More people watched the IPL last year than those who voted for general elections. For sponsors, cricket is a leader and it will lead the way. The recovery will be sharper than a V-shaped recovery," he had said.

"The flavour of IPL is that best players of the world come and play, and everyone is committed to maintaining that flow. But it will be a step-by-step process. We can't expect normalisation tomorrow," he said.