UAE CONTINGENCY VENUE FOR T20 WORLD CUP AND IPL AS BCCI CALLS SGM ON MAY 29
MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to defer the call to move the T20 World Cup out of India for now. The United Arab Emirates though could become Indian cricket’s home away from home with shifting of the October-november T20 World Cup and the halted IPL to that region a strong possibility.
BCCI will convey to the International Cricket Council (ICC) at its meeting on June 1 that it would observe the pandemic situation in India before taking a final call on any shifting. Ahead of the ICC meet, BCCI will need to come to a collective decision as nine potential hosting state associations are involved.
At last month’s apex council meeting, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Dharamsala and Lucknow were shortlisted to host the T20 World Cup.
A BCCI Special General Meeting (SGM) has been convened on May 29 which all state units will attend. “Realistically, things haven’t improved. We know that,” said a BCCI official, who did not wish to be identified. “But there is time for the World Cup. We will not close the option of keeping it in India.” Staging the World Cup in India without spectators and at limited venues is a possibility, but BCCI officials concede that the IPL suspension has weakened that possibility. A dramatic dip in the Covid curve is required convince participants to come and play in the 16-team tournament.
No IPL in India this year
The unfinished edition of IPL though will not be held at home. After its bio-bubble was breached with positive cases reported in four teams, international players, many of whom have just reached home due to travel restrictions, are reportedly wary of playing in India so soon. “We are trying our best to complete IPL. We don’t know about the World Cup yet. But IPL could go to the UAE,” said another board official.
The narrow September-october window before the World Cup has been identified and talks are on with the Emirates Cricket Board on IPL. Will the pitches hold if the World Cup then is also moved to the UAE? “There is no alternative,” the official said. The UAE hosted the 2020 IPL late last year.
The only other option is for IPL to move to England. MCC, Surrey and Warwickshire have reportedly written to the English board (ECB) to host the league at Lord’s, The Oval (both London) and Edgbaston (Birmingham). But board officials say the window is too short for a UK IPL, especially because warm-up matches will have to be played before the World Cup.
IPL 14 was “postponed” at the halfway mark, after 29 matches, due to rising Covid-19 cases inside its bio-bubble.
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