DUBAI: The International Cricket Council board Wednesday offered the only reasonable update possible on the chances of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 being held on schedule.
Which is that the game’s world governing body “would continue exploring a number of contingency plans regarding the future of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 and the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 until next month whilst planning for delivery of the events in the scheduled window is ongoing”.
Not surprisingly, this has set off another round of statements by various worthies from India’s cricket establishment.
Sample this:
*Working on all possible options to stage IPL this year, even if it means playing in empty stadiums: BCCI president Saurav Ganguly
*Delay in decision-making at ICC not helping anyone: BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal
*IPL in September-October: IPL governing council chairman Brijesh Patel
Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore then added his views to the “debate”. All the franchises want the IPL to be held without any “tinkering” with the format, he asserted on Thursday.
Who gave him the authority to speak on behalf of all IPL teams is not clear though. Because both Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals are on record as being game for a tournament without foreign players.
Mysore’s answer to that: “I think the majority of the franchises, I know there are one or two who have answered it slightly differently, but when I talk to them offline, they say that they were misquoted.”
Misquoted? Really? That Delhi Capitals CEO Dhiraj Malhotra, who was recently a part of Episode 3 of the SportzPower and GainAccess co-hosted #Sports Post Lockdown Webinar Series – Impact on the Business of Cricket – didn’t sing to Mysore’s beat is on record.
Where are we going with this? Simply that the ICC CANNOT set a date with regards to taking a decision on this year’s T20 World Cup off the bat in a situation that is constantly evolving.
The ICC release reads: “The International Cricket Council (ICC) board today (Wednesday) agreed to continue exploring a number of contingency plans regarding the future of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 and the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 until next month whilst planning for delivery of the events in the scheduled window is ongoing.
“The Board expressed its desire to continue to assess and evaluate the rapidly changing public health situation caused by COVID-19 working with key stakeholders including governments to explore how the events can be staged to protect the health and safety of everyone involved.
“This contingency planning process will evaluate health and safety, cricket, partner and host considerations ensuring any decision taken is in the best interests of the sport, its members and fans.”
ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney further said: “The situation surrounding the global pandemic is evolving rapidly and we want to give ourselves the best possible opportunity to make the right decision for the whole sport. The health and well-being of everyone involved is our priority and other considerations fall out from that.
“We will only get one chance to make this decision and it needs to be the right one and as such we will continue to consult with our members, broadcasters, partners, governments and players and to ensure that we make a well informed decision.”
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