Hyderabad: The International Cricket Council (ICC) hosted a Chief Executives Committee meeting on Thursday, but there was no clear direction on the fate of the World T20 to be held later in the year in Australia.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) feels that with the coronavirus outbreak and the effect it has had, having the showpiece event in October-November seems impractical.
Speaking to a leading news agency, a BCCI official said that a number of factors would come into play and all that would be only after normalcy returns. The official went on to point at the travel restrictions to begin with and the fresh directives that might come in across the globe, not just in India.
"To be honest, the T20 World Cup in October seems to be impractical and even thinking of a gathering of people of that magnitude at this time is naive. I mean think about it. At this stage you don't know when international travel would be safe. Someone is saying June, someone is saying longer. Once travel does open up, it would be prudent to study the impact of travel as to whether the coronavirus remains controlled or not," the official pointed.
The official then brought in the human aspect as he spoke about whether the ICC and Cricket Australia would be willing to take the guarantee of the number of lives that would be involved in the whole process of having a showpiece event.
"The question would then be whether the CA and the ICC are willing to stick their necks out and take the responsibility for such an event where the number of people converging would be significant. Then it comes down to the governments. Would the Australian government want to take such a risk? If so, what would be the timeline of their approval? Would the time be sufficient for the other boards? Would the governments of other countries permit their teams to travel?" the official questioned.
Finally the official pointed at the biggest area of concern — fan safety. "Lastly, with the condition that everyone is going through at the moment, would the fans want to gather in a stadium at this stage? Or would the tickets of only one out of 10 seats be made available to keep a semblance of social distancing norms in place?" the official asked.
