T20 World Cup: Staging tournament unrealistic amid coronavirus pandemic, says CA Chairman

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Melbourne, June 16: Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings on Tuesday (June 16) conceded that this year's T20 World Cup amid the coronavirus pandemic seems "unrealistic" as it will be difficult to fly in 16 teams to the country.

The fate of the event, scheduled to be held in October and November, is shrouded in uncertainty as several countries continue to have in place, strict travel restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected over 8.1 million people across the globe.

"I would say it is unlikely...trying to get (teams from) 16 countries into Australia when most countries are still going through COVID spiking is unrealistic or very, very difficult," Eddings said during a video conference.

Last week, the International Cricket Council (ICC), after a board meeting, said a decision regarding the tournament will be made next month.

The world body stated that it wants to continue exploring contingency plans for some more time as a call of this magnitude needs to be taken after every possible deliberation.

There is speculation that the event is headed for a postponement and the window will be utilised by the IPL, which is currently suspended.

This is despite the fact that Australia is among the countries that have managed to flatten the curve.

Just over 7000 cases have been reported here and more than 6000 of them have recovered from the deadly infection.