ICC T20 World Cup 2021: The T20 World Cup continued to be unsure with respect to the venue for its next edition later this year.
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Last played in 2016 in India, the ICC T20 World Cup was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic last year as the ICC (International Cricket Council) had no option than to postpone the tournament which was originally scheduled to be played in Australia.
With India already slated to host a T20 World Cup this year, the edition in Australia was delayed to 2022 by the global board. While Australia could have been allotted this year’s World Cup by postponing India’s turn to 2022, the same would’ve resulted in India hosting three major tournaments (including IPL 2023) within a span of a few months.
It is worth mentioning that India are also scheduled to host the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2023 and that the tournament was eventually moved to the October-November window from the original February-March window.
Can ICC T20 World Cup 2021 be held in Australia?
With COVID-19 continuing its disastrous impact in India, there are strong chances of the T20 World Cup moving to the UAE (official backup venue) as conducting a multi-city world event would be too much to ask for amid a raging pandemic in India.
As things stand, BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) have sought time till the first week of July from the ICC (International Cricket Council) to have a clearer picture regarding their stance on wanting to host the World Cup or not. While it hasn’t been discussed much officially, a left-field option lies in Australia conducting 2021 World Cup followed by India in 2022.
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Being asked about the same in a recent interaction, Cricket Australia’s newly-elected Chief Executive Officer Nick Hockley spoke against the prospect of hosting a world event this year stating that it is “not on the cards”.
“No, we’ve got the men’s T20 World cup next year, that’s the postponed 2020 event. We’re very focused on preparing for that event, but in terms of us hosting [the 2021 T20 World Cup] that hasn’t been discussed and is not on the cards,” Hockley was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
