ICC postpone Men's T20 World Cup 2020 opening up a window for IPL
In what would be seen as a major boost to the prospects of an IPL happening this year, the International Cricket Council has decided to postpone the 2020 edition of the Men's T20 World Cup owing to COVID-19 pandemic that swept through the world earlier this year. Having held a series of meetings in the preceding months to look for the best possible outcome, the zenith body finally reached a conclusion on Monday.
The tournament was scheduled to kick off from October 18 later this year in Australia, but ever since the pandemic started spreading across the globe, the prospect of a multi-nation tournament had become bleak.
In the meeting, the IBC Board, which is the commercial a subsidiary of the ICC, also finalized the window for ICC men's event in the next three years. As per the agreed schedule, ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 will be held in October - November 2021 with the final on 14 November 2021. The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 will be held in October - November 2022 with the final on 13 November 2022, and ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 will be held in India October - November 2023 with the final on 26 November 2023
“The IBC Board agreed to continue to monitor the rapidly changing situation and assess all the information available in order to make a considered decision on future hosts to ensure the sport is able to stage safe and successful global events in 2021 and 2022," the ICC stated in a release.
"The IBC Board will also continue to evaluate the situation in relation to being able to stage the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2021 in New Zealand in February next year. In the meantime, planning for this event continues as scheduled."
ICC’s chief executive, Manu Sawhney, said, "We have undertaken a comprehensive and complex contingency planning exercise and through this process, our number one priority has been to protect the health and safety of everyone involved in the sport.
"The decision to postpone the ICC Men's T20 World Cup was taken after careful consideration of all of the options available to us and gives us the best possible opportunity of delivering two safe and successful T20 World Cups for fans around the world.
"Our members now have the clarity they need around event windows to enable them to reschedule lost bilateral and domestic cricket. Moving the Men's Cricket World Cup to a later window is a critical element of this and gives us a better chance of maintaining the integrity of the qualification process. This additional time will be used to reschedule games that might be lost because of the pandemic ensuring qualification can be decided on the field of play.”
"Throughout this process, we have worked closely with our key stakeholders including governments, members, broadcasters, partners, and medical experts to enable us to reach a collective decision for the good of the game and our fans. I would like to thank everyone involved for their commitment to a safe return to cricket," Sawhney added.
In the last few days, media reports had claimed that the BCCI had finalized UAE as the venue for the 13th edition of the IPL and was waiting for ICC’s clarity on T20 World Cup. With the tournament postponed, the September-October window is now available for the board to conduct the league.
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