Reports: ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia likely to be postponed

Amid Coronavirus outbreak, the sporting industry is dealt with a major blow. From football to cricket, every single tournament has either been postponed or cancelled. Now, there are reports that the Men’s T20 World Cup that is slated to begin from October 18 in Australia will also get postponed due to the novel virus.

The last edition of the shorter format World Cup was held in 2016 that was won by West Indies. It is known that the showpiece event is held once in a span of two years. But, looking forward to the current conditions, the chances are quite slim that the tournament will be held later this year.

This year’s T20 World Cup could be postponed to 2022

As per the reports, the T20 World Cup 2020 is likely to be postponed to the year 2022 as there is no playing window available in 2021. In December, India is scheduled to go on a tour to Australia followed by the Big Bash League (BBL) that is played during the summer. Also, March-April will not be an ideal time for the World Cup as Indian Premier League (IPL) will take place in those months.

As per the ICC schedule, they were going to organize two back to back T20 World Cups. However, now, it will be inappropriate to organize two- showpiece events in a year. So, it is expected that the marquee event will get postponed for a year. It is already decided that the 2021 World Cup will be hosted by India. So, now they will get the opportunity to organize it in 2022.

“The question being internally discussed was to postpone it but there was no status quo on ‘until when?’ Well, India is scheduled to tour Australia in December. Early next year, Australia have their Big Bash scheduled. March would not be an ideal time (with IPL to begin in April) because the broadcaster won’t agree to back-to-back T20 events.

“India is anyway hosting the 2021 T20 World Cup. So, the ideal choice has to be 2022,” the source said as quoted by The Times of India. Earlier, Olympics, one of the biggest sports event across the globe also got postponed due to the novel virus. Now, the questions are raised on the 13th edition of IPL and BCCI is expected to take the decision over the same in the near future