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The global
event is supposed to be held from October 18 to November 15 in Australia
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Dubai(Agencies): On
hold for the past two months, the fate of this year’s T20 World Cup will be up
for a decisive round of deliberation when the ICC board meets virtually on
Monday, with the BCCI hoping for a postponement to ensure that the IPL can go
ahead.
The global event is supposed
to be held from October 18 to November 15 in Australia but the country’s
cricket board had, in May itself, expressed its inability to host amid a second
surge of COVID-19 cases in the state of Victoria.
With India’s case load also
exceeding the 10-lakh mark, including more than 26,000 deaths, the IPL, if it
is held, is likely to move to the UAE once the Central Government gives its
go-ahead.
“The first step was postponement of the Asia
Cup, which has happened. We can only start to move ahead with our plans after
the ICC announces the postponement. They have been sitting on the decision even
after Cricket Australia said that they are not too keen on hosting the event,”
a BCCI Apex Council member told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
This year’s T20 World Cup will
likely be held in Australia in 2022 as India doesn’t want to swap its 2021
hosting rights with Cricket Australia as of now.
That Australia won’t be
hosting the mega event was clear after the cricket board told its players to
prepare for a white-ball series against England scheduled for late September.
CA has even announced a
26-strong preliminary squad for that tour.
The ICC, on its part, has
maintained that it wants to explore all possible “contingency” options before
taking a call of such immense magnitude. And it is not unusual for the
governing body to wait this long.
“Pakistan was supposed to host the Champions
Trophy in 2009. After the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus,
everyone in their proper senses knew that PCB will never host a big event in
distant future,” said a source familiar with the functioning of the ICC.
“Yet, ICC deputed its employees in Pakistan
for months when South Africa was already preparing to host the event. Everyone
knew but a formal announcement of shift took months as threat assessment was
part of protocol.
“The ICC couldn’t have just postponed the T20
World Cup immediately as initially, the top ministers of the Australian
government expressed keenness to host,” he added.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has
also resigned itself to this outcome after vehemently opposing the Indian
board.
The postponement of Asia Cup,
which was supposed to be hosted by the PCB, to 2021 was a big blow to Ehsan
Mani and his team.
“We have had a lot of discussions and the
feeling is it (T20 World Cup) would not be possible this year. ICC has World
Cups lined up in 2021 and 2023 so we have a gap year where we can adjust this
event,” Mani had recently said while talking to reporters in his country.
It has been learnt that the
PCB is contacting other boards in the hope of finalising some bilateral
engagements as the national team has nothing lined up after its England tour.
Nomination process for
Chairman’s election
The other issue that is likely
to come up for discussion in Monday’s meeting is the nomination process for the
next independent chairman of the ICC after Shashank Manohar’s resignation
earlier this month.
It is learnt that there is no
consensus on what should be the criteria in case multiple candidates join the
fray.
“The board is not united on whether the usual
2/3rd majority to decide will be used (as its in case of policy decision) or
the case of simple majority among the 17 board members,” an ICC Board member
said.
England and Wales Cricket
Board’s Colin Graves was considered the top contender, with BCCI president Sourav
Ganguly’s name also being floated.
Ganguly’s candidature will
certainly depend on whether the Supreme Court waives off the cooling off period
and allows him to continue as BCCI president beyond July 27 when he completes
six years as an office-bearer in the Indian Board’s state and national units.
When asked about the
possibility of taking up the ICC job in a recent interview, the 48-year-old
said he is young and in no hurry for the position.
New Zealand’s Gregor Barclay,
Hong Kong’s Imran Khawaja, who is currently the interim chairman, are also
being talked about as potential candidates. PTI
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