It's official: ICC postpones 2020 T20 World Cup due to Coronavirus

Tags: 2020 T20 World Cup, ICC

Published on: Jul 21, 2020

On expected lines, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has postponed this year's ICC T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Australia in October-November due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The deferment means there will be two back-to-back T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022 followed by the 50-over World Cup in India in 2023.

"At today's meeting, windows for the next three ICC men’s events were also agreed to bring clarity to the calendar and give the sport the best possible opportunity," the ICC said in a statement after the decision was taken.

ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney stated the move had to be made keep the safety of all involved concerned. "The decision 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," he added.

"Our Members now have the clarity they need around event windows to enable them to reschedule lost bilateral and domestic cricket," Sawhney went on to explain further.

As for the 2021 Women's World Cup scheduled to be held in New Zealand, the ICC would continue to keep a watch on the situation, and take the necessary calls. Further, the 2023 50-over World Cup in India will now be held in October-November to allow teams to take part in the qualification process.

The 1996 and 2011 World Cups in India were held in February and March. "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," CEO Sawhney further said.

He added that the ICC worked in tandem with all stakeholders before arriving on a decision. "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," Sawhney added.

Meanwhile, the ICC has kept on hold the nomination process for the next independent chairman to replace Shashank Manohar. Sourav Ganguly was being considered as one of the likely replacements, but there has been on authentic development in that regards.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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