MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC), which last week confirmed India as the host of the 2021 T20 World Cup, has kept the UAE and Sri Lanka as back-up host countries in the event that the COVID-19 situation in India has not been brought under control by then.
India is the third-most severely hit country in the world after the United States and Brazil by the coronavirus pandemic and no one can with any certainty say when the “curve will flatten”.
It bears noting that it is standard protocol for the ICC to designate back-up venues for its marquee world events as a precautionary measure.
The cricket website further stated: “Sri Lanka and the UAE are among the back-up venues for the 2021 men’s T20 World Cup, should the COVID-19 pandemic make India an untenable host.
“Identifying potential back-up venues is standard practice for every ICC event, but it takes on extra significance in this time because of the nature of the pandemic. India is currently the third-worst-hit country in the world in terms of cases, according to most data studies, with over 2 million cases so far and over 45,000 deaths.
“The current situation has forced the BCCI to relocate the IPL to the UAE, and only tentative plans are in place for the domestic season.”
