Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) treasurer Arun Dhumal on Wednesday said the International Cricket Council (ICC) should take a quick call on T20 World Cup 2020, given the host nation has expressed doubts over hosting the tournament as scheduled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Arun Dhumal, speaking to indiatoday.in, said there is ‘nothing much left’ for the ICC after Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings said on Tuesday that Australia’s chances of hosting the 16-team World Cup in October-November is ‘unrealistic’.
“When the host nation is showing its inability to host the tournament, there is nothing much left for the ICC. I don’t know why they are delaying. It’s their call, whenever they want to go ahead with the announcement, they can. But sooner the better for world cricket,” Arun Dhumal said.
Earl Eddings, who is a member of the ICC board, said on Tuesday hat hosting the T20 World Cup involving 16 teams is ‘very very difficult’ and ‘unrealistic’. Australia are scheduled to host the T20 World Cup from October 18 to November 15 but Eddings said Cricket Australia have put forward a number of options to the ICC.
“I sit on the ICC and we’re having meetings as we speak,” Eddings said on Tuesday.
“It’s a bit of a moving feast at the moment. I’d say it’s unlikely, while it hasn’t been formally called off this year or postponed, trying to get 16 countries into Australia in the current world where most countries are still going through Covid-19 spiking, I think it’s unrealistic or would be very, very difficult.
Notably, Eddings had asked the ICC to consider postponing the T20 World Cup in a letter addressed to the cricket body’s Finance & Commercial Affairs Committee.
Former Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts had also pointed out last month that there is a ‘very high risk’ of the T20 World Cup being held as scheduled in Australia this year due to the pandemic.
The ICC, after its board meeting earlier this month, defered a final call on the T20 World Cup to July, saying it wants to take a ‘right’ decision as it ‘gets only one chance to make’ it.
