New Delhi: Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the two back-up countries being zeroed in on by the ICC. This is if India is unable to host next year’s T20 World Cup. There is however, one year still to go for the T20 World Cup. This year’s T20 World Cup in Australia got postponed due to rising cases of COVID-19. Also the host country said it will difficult for it manage 16 teams.
“Sri Lanka and the UAE are among the back-up venues for the 2021 men’s T20 World Cup. This is in case the COVID-19 pandemic make India an untenable host,” a cricket-specific website has quoted ICC as saying.
The ICC confirmed last week that India will host next year’s tournament as scheduled in the original Future Tours Programme (FTP). This year’s postponed edition in Australia goes ahead in 2022.
However it is a standard protocol to have back-up venues listed for any global event. “Identifying potential back-up venues is standard practice for every ICC event. It takes on extra significance in this time because of the nature of the pandemic,” the ICC said.
“India is currently the third-worst-hit country in the world in terms of cases, according to most data studies. There have been over two million cases so far and over 45,000 deaths. The current situation has forced the BCCI to relocate the IPL to the UAE. Also only tentative plans are in place for the domestic season,” the website further stated.
No one is BCCI is at the moment willing to comment on the issue as there is a long way to go before the T20 World Cup starts.
PTI