The upcoming T20 World Cup is affected by an ongoing coronavirus pandemic in Australia. While COVID-19 cases are decreasing in the country each day, stakeholders find that bringing together cricketers from 16 countries would be highly risky. The tournament starts on the 18th of October and lasts until the 15th of November.
Last week, the ICC was scheduled to make a final appeal but has postponed it to 10 June. Even the Chief of Cricket Australia (CA) appealed to postpone the mega-event. There have also been rumors that behind the scenes, the BCCI is planning to cancel this year’s World Cup and replace it with the Indian Premier League ( IPL).
However, former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar claims that the Australian government should make the final decision to host the much-awaited tournament and not the ICC, CA, or BCCI. He also went on to say that the Australian Government does not pay heed to any outside interference and will do what is best for the welfare of its people. He also said that they are not going to make decisions based on what the BCCI wants.
“I don’t think ICC, Cricket Australia, or BCCI will do anything about this. This decision must come from the Government of Australia. The actions of the Australian government will determine when the World T20 takes place. And I know that the welfare of their people is the first thing for the Australian government without paying attention to other influences, “Akhtar was quoted as saying in an interview.
What did the T20 World Cup CA CEO say?
Last week Kevin Roberts, CEO of Cricket Australia, confirmed that the T20 World Cup is actually at great risk. He also acknowledged that the board planned for the tournament in March, but in recent months things haven’t gone as expected.
“We were hopeful that it could take place in October-November, but you have to admit that the chances are very high riskY. If this does not happen, the February-March period is the possible window of possible Openings. And here, for several years, there are implications for the ICC. So the ICC has a lot of difficulties to tackle, “he said.”
