Will India participate in Asia Cup 2020: BCCI treasurer’s response hints towards waiting game with respect to another multi-nation tournament.
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While most cricket players around the world have officially resumed training, Indian players are yet to be given the nod with respect to training in a group. Considering the status of the novel COVID-19 pandemic in the country, it is perhaps still not safe to train outside in groups.
England, who have lost out on a large chunk of their summer, recently announced the return of county cricket from August 1. While India’s domestic season is still a couple of months away, one believes the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) will have to truncate the season to ensure that sport is played across formats.
Speaking in a recent interview with Cricbuzz, BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal didn’t give a concrete answer regarding the future of domestic cricket this year but revealed that everyone’s safety remains the board’s prime objective.
“Entire cricket is affected because it won’t be safe to resume cricket matches amidst the pandemic. In this how can we be sure when to resume and how to resume, how much we will be able to have?
“So once we get a clearer picture on when is the end of the pandemic or if we have found a vaccine so that it is proper to go out and play tournaments, accordingly we will work out a plan. Safety of our players if our topmost priority. We will not compromise on that. Any international or domestic tournament would be accounted for once we are sure of that,” Dhumal was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
Will India participate in Asia Cup 2020?
Going by the uncertainty regarding the future of the ICC T20 World Cup 2020, there have been strong murmurs of conducting the 13th season of the Indian Premier League in the same slot. If IPL 2020 is played in September-October, India might have to play three T20Is in Australia which were originally scheduled before the world event.
“No, that is part of the FTP [Future Tours Programme]. There is no way we can think of not abiding by the FTP and organising the IPL. We are committed to taking care of all FTP. In case the World Cup doesn’t happen only then we have the opportunity of staging the IPL,” Dhumal said.
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Other than the T20 World Cup in Australia, IPL 2020 would also need support from the Asia Cup which is scheduled to be played in September. It is the postponement of both the events which will give way to the cash-rich league.
Being asked about India’s participation in the Asia Cup, Dhumal hinted towards playing the waiting game with respect to another multi-nation tournament amidst a global pandemic.
“That is a call the Asian Cricket Council has to take, and for all the participating countries if whether travelling to play Asia Cup is safe. So once we are able to take feelers from all these countries, only then it will happen. As of now, international travel is not there, so we are not sure if we will be able to travel or not, or if it would be safe,” Dhumal added.
