ICC set to postpone T20 World Cup 2020 to next year; official announcement expected next week

The COVID-19 outbreak has compelled the world to a standstill. The pandemic has wreaked havoc across the world as more than 3 lakh individuals have succumbed to death. The coronavirus pandemic has put the human existence in jeopardy and most countries are currently under lockdown to tackle the pandemic.

Along with human existence, the COVID-19 outbreak has also affected the sporting scenario. All major tournaments including the much-awaited IPL 2020 have been postponed indefinitely in the wake of the pandemic. Along with IPL 2020, another major event — T20 World Cup 2020– is also set to be postponed. The mega-event in Australia was initially scheduled in the October-November window.

However, considering the current situation, the T20 World Cup is likely to postponed further and an official announcement on these lines can be expected next week. At the moment, the main concern for ICC and Cricket Australia is to finalize a new window to host the tournament.

IPL 2020 could be hosted in the T20 World Cup window

Cricket Australia could schedule the T20 World Cup next year in February/March, as reported by The Times of India. However, the tournament will overmuch the T20 format as the next edition of Indian Premier League will also begin in April next year. If the T20 World Cup is scheduled in that window, England‘s tour to India will also be put in jeopardy.

If BCCI agrees to allow to CA to host 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup and in turn hosts the 2022 edition, things could be sorted out. However, the possibility of things happening in this way looks vague as the BCCI is already busy in negotiating an Australia tour with CA later this year.

Postponement of the T20 World Cup will leave a blank window in October and November, giving a rare opportunity for the BCCI to schedule the IPL 2020. BCCI will not mind chartering an airplane to fly in overseas players for the tournament.

However, the idea of hosting IPL 2020 in that window will all be dependent on the COVID-19 outbreak. The coronavirus outbreak has to subside first so that governments approve the travel of overseas players. At the moment, there is no certainty over the matter and things might get clear in the near future.