The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finds itself in a tricky spot ahead of Wednesday’s crucial Board meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC), which will discuss the staging of the forthcoming editions of the T20 World Cup.
While Australia is scheduled to host the T20 World Cup in October-November this year, India has been awarded next year’s event. However, the COVID-19 outbreak has forced the ICC to consider alternate arrangements, such as deferring the two editions to 2021 and 2022.
Although Cricket Australia, the Australian government and the ICC are likely to wait another month before making a decision — considering the improvement in the pandemic situation in the country — the BCCI is eager for a quicker resolution. “We are hoping that a decision will be made soon about the 2020 edition,” BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal said on Tuesday.
The IPL angle
The BCCI is desperate for clarity — if the 2020 T20 World Cup is deferred, the BCCI hopes to squeeze in the IPL, which was postponed, in some form in October-November.
The BCCI is also hoping that the ICC doesn’t take the 2021 edition away from it. There have been discussions between the ICC and Cricket Australia on the possibility of Australia staging the T20 World Cup in 2021.
If that happens, India may be asked to host the T20 World Cup in 2022, months before the scheduled 50-over World Cup in India in 2023.
In order to decide the BCCI’s stance, top office-bearers — including president Sourav Ganguly, who is set to represent the BCCI as an ICC Director — had a conference call on Tuesday evening.
Mani enters fray
Wednesday’s meeting is also set to chalk out the procedure for electing Shashank Manohar’s successor as ICC chairman.
While Ganguly remains a rank outsider for the post, it is understood that Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ehsan Mani has emerged as a contender to take on the England and Wales Cricket Board’s Colin Graves.
Interestingly, the agenda of discussing the scheduling of the T20 World Cup and the chairman election was deferred on May 28 owing to the directors being anguished by the leaks of internal documents to the public domain. The inquiry report on the matter is also set to be tabled on Wednesday.
