MUMBAI: England are set to postpone their white-ball tour of India, which was originally slated to take place in September, on account of the threat posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The development should really come as no surprise considering that COVID-19 numbers in the country close in on 1 million and the death toll nears 25,000. Point being that India is nowhere close as yet to “flattening the curve” in terms of bringing the pandemic under control.
England are scheduled to take on India in three ODIs and as many T20Is on Indian soil, for which they are to fly out on September 16. However, the white ball tour will likely be postponed and tagged along with England’s five-Test series in India early next year, according to a report in UK’s Daily Mail.
As per the report, the likely suspension of the ICC T20 World Cup would make up some room for staging the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League in the last week of September, thereby further diminishing any hopes of England’s visit to India.
As far as the IPL is concerned, the BCCI is looking at a end-September to early-November window for the cash-rich league, probably in the UAE (due to India’s coronavirus problem).
The final announcement over the tour is expected soon as the BCCI is still awaiting ICC’s official decision on the fate of the T20 World Cup, which is currently scheduled to be held in Australia in October-November.
