Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday said that the Board will continue to assess the contingency plans until next month before deciding the fate of the World T20 in Australia scheduled to take place between October and November, owing to changing conditions of the coronavirus pandemic Down Under. Meanwhile, the decision of holding the back the fate of World T20 has left BCCI in a hot water who has been eying the window to stage the 13th season of the Indian Premier League.
IPL 2020 was scheduled to begin from March 29 onwards but was postponed twice owing to the pandemic leaving BCCI on the brink of a huge loss. However, with Cricket Australia reckoning the October-November window as "very risky", BCCI has expressed a keen interest in staging IPL 2020 during that period if ICC cancels the tournament.
"It’s not only about BCCI in this current situation, world cricket has to come together to meet this challenge. There is no point in delaying the issue, we need to discuss and decide things immediately so that we can have a roadmap for the future," BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal told Indian Express.
However, when asked if the delay in the decision to announce the fate of World T20 is a way to jeopardise IPL 2020, Dhumal denied commenting on the same and rather wanted the governing council to act fast.
"Everything is getting mixed up due to the impending ICC elections, I think. There are media reports that Australia doesn’t want to host the T20 World Cup this year; if that is the case, then a decision needs to be taken soon," he said.
"We need more clarity. If the World Cup isn’t happening, then all cricket boards will have a window available and they can take a call whether they want to have a bilateral series or something else to make up for the revenue loss they have incurred. It is not a question of just IPL, at least one can plan better. Not just us, everyone," he added.
