Reports | T20 World Cup set to be postponed 

SportsCafe Desk
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According to the latest reports, the 2020 edition of the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in Australia is all set to be postponed and official confirmation of it could be coming next week. The ICC mega event is scheduled to begin in October this year but talks of postponement have been strong.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the thirteenth edition of the IPL was indefinitely postponed last month by the BCCI. Consequently, the talks of the T20 World Cup in Australia getting pushed further had begun. Now, according to the latest TOI reports, it will not be held in the October-November window, as scheduled, and an official announcement in this regard can be expected in the coming week.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the host board, Cricket Australia, are said to be in the midst of major discussions concerning the same. The concerns include the new schedule of the ICC event, whether the BCCI will let CA host the T20 World Cup in 2021, and whether the broadcasters will agree to the new set of arrangements. Apart from this, the other major talking point is whether it would be possible for Australia to host the tournament in 2022 - a decision, if gone ahead with, suits most players on the table, especially considering there's no ICC event scheduled that year.

"There's no reason why India will agree to switch the T20 World Cups. And then of course, there are logistics and hospitality to take care of. If the tournament would've happened, it'd have been played to empty stands and that doesn't make sense for Australia because they lose out on massive gate revenue. Right now, what they'll be getting out of the tournament is the hosting and participation fee (latter is applicable to all participating boards). They can earn that money whenever the tournament is held next, possibly some gate revenue too,", say those tracking developments, as quoted by the TOI.

Meanwhile, the postponement of this year’s T20 World Cup would mean a rare, vacant window in October and November, one that the BCCI could put into use to host the IPL. Borrowing from the England & Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) idea to send a charter to Pakistan to fly them to England for the Test series in August, the BCCI too will not mind chartering an airplane to Australia and the Caribbean to fly the players in for IPL.

"That, however, is too early to talk about right now. A lot of things have to fall in place for it - most importantly this virus spread has to subside, the government has to approve, other countries have to agree to the travel, etc. Let's cross the bridge when we get there," the sources added.

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