The most-awaited Twenty20 World Cup, originally scheduled to be held in India, is set to take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) starting from October 17, sources told NDTV.
Due to the tricky situation of Covid-19 in India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had internally intimated to the International Cricket Council (ICC) that ICC should go ahead with their preparations to hold T20 at UAE and Oman.
The T20 World Cup will be held in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai, while the qualifiers will be hosted by Oman. The BCCI had already kept the UAE as a back-up.
While BCCI was keen on holding onto hosting rights, they were forced to let go of it as they didn’t receive any tax exemption from the government and they were unsure if international players would want to return to India after the IPL bubble breach, The Indian Express reported. According to BCCI, holding the T20 World Cup in the UAE will help the Board save 41 per cent of their total earnings.
While the T20 tournament is said to start on October 27, the final is likely to take place on November 14.
In an attempt to complete the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 -- which was paused earlier due to Covid-19 -- the BCCI has moved the tournament to the UAE. However, the official dates are yet to be determined.
It is also said the T20 World Cup will be held immediately after IPL, and hence, BCCI believes that the players' transit will be smoother. Considering the Covid-19 protocol, if both the tournaments are held in one place, then there wouldn’t be any issue of quarantine.
Published 26 June 2021, 06:24 IST