T20 WC likely to be called off
Final round of deliberations lined up at ICC meeting today
Dubai, July 19: 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 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 said.
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.
All eyes on big chair
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.
New Zealand’s Gregor Barclay is also in fray to be ICC chairman. —