PCB Chairman backs Australian counterparts to defer October’s T20 World Cup
Image : Collected
|| Desk Report ||
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani joined the chorus of Cricket Australia (CA) Chairman Earl Eddings, stating that staging the Twenty20 World Cup this year will be impossible in the current situation.
Mani feels that keeping 16 teams in a biosecure bubble to limit the risk of the coronavirus pandemic and staging the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in October is not possible.
Though, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is exploring contingency plans but still unlikely to reach a decision about the tournament until July.
Cricket Australia (CA) chairman Earl Eddings also said on Tuesday that expecting the tournament to go ahead as planned in October-November is ‘unrealistic’ and ‘very, very difficult’.
Mani asserted in a virtual media briefing on Wednesday that the Australian government is still very cautious about the coronavirus risk.
“If it is played this year they will likely insist it happens in a bio-bubble,” Ehsan Mani said.
“This is okay for one or two teams but when 12-16 teams play in a T20 tournament, it becomes an impossible thing. I don’t think it is feasible today that there is any ICC event in 2020,” Mani added.
Mani suggested the tournament be rescheduled to 2021, with the edition scheduled for next year in India moved to 2022.
“ICC events were supposed to happen in 2020, 2021 and 2023. The gap in the middle can be filled and this will be deferred,” he said.
“That is where the talk is headed towards. What event will happen first and where, those talks are happening,” Mani concluded.
