ICC hopeful of T20 World Cup going ahead as per schedule

The coronavirus pandemic has put an end to all sporting action across the world at the moment. Pressure is also mounting on the ICC to take a call on the T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in Australia starting in October.

The Scott Morrison-led government have imposed a travel ban for all non-residents and non-citizens. This ban could last for longer than 6 months, and thus could affect World Cup preparations and the tournament itself.

The ICC are reportedly still hopeful of going ahead with the event as scheduled. However, the organisers are said to be monitoring the situation closely along with the concerned authorities.

“We are monitoring the situation closely with relevant authorities and will continue to do so. We are planning for the event to go ahead as scheduled,” an event spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

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Earlier, the governing body for world cricket had postponed all qualifying events that were to take place before June 30. They stated the following in a press release:

“After careful evaluation of the current situation and with the health and well-being of the global cricket family the priority, all ICC qualifying events due to take place before 30 June will be postponed subject to further review. The decision has been taken in conjunction with Members and in line with the relevant government and public health authority advice.”

The ICC are also in a race against time to complete the World Test Championship by June next year. With several Test series being postponed in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, it is looking increasingly unlikely that there will be enough time to accommodate all the series for all nine teams by March 2021.