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.