So finally after weeks of speculation, wait – T20 World Cup in Australia will be officially postponed this week. The International Cricket Council (ICC) along with Cricket Australia (CA) will officially announce the decision this week after delaying the inevitable since last few weeks. The announcement will give new lease of life to Indian Premier League’s (IPL 2020) season this year. As per the information with InsideSport, the announcement in regard to postponement of T20 World Cup can be made as early as Thursday or Friday this week.
“The T20 World Cup will be postponed this week. ICC is not left with any other option now. It’s unfortunate but seeing the situation with Covid19 this we all believe is the rights decision”, said one of the board representative to ICC.
InsideSport had earlier reported on 30th June as the cases in the state of Victoria has seen escalation even the remotest of hopes to host the T20 World Cup is over now. This led to AFL and NRL matches being moved out from Victoria to other states. And the development led ICC to throw in towel and finally decide that the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2020 is not possible
Also Read : All is over for T20 World Cup as cases increase in Victoria, IPL 2020 set to get lifeline
The development now gives completely free window to BCCI to host IPL 2020 between September to November 2020. InsideSport had earlier told its readers that the BCCI has already zeroed down on the dates of Sep 26th to Nov 8th to host IPL 2020 this year, now the same can become reality.
The big question now for BCCI will be where to host IPL 2020 ?
One thing is certain, due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in India, the multimillion-dollar tournament can’t be hosted in India. And that leaves with only option to shift the IPL 2020 season outside India.
According to InsideSport’s sources, the BCCI has zeroed in on the UAE as their preferred venue because of the improved infrastructure, logistics and access to three stadiums — Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi — within a short distance. The players generally prefer to stay in Dubai since Sharjah is only a 30-minute drive from there while Abu Dhabi takes one-and-a-half hours. The matches can be held behind closed doors. The fact that the UAE has previously hosted the tournament, in 2014, is also working to its advantage.
Other options that are being discussed includes Sri Lanka but BCCI is unlikely to go ahead with the Island nation and UAE will stay its preferred choice to host IPL 2020.
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