The International Cricket Council (ICC) has retained India as the host of the 2021 T20 World Cup and reassigned the deferred 2020 edition to Australia in 2022. While finalising these decisions on Friday, the ICC Board also postponed the Women’s ODI World Cup from early 2021 to 2022.
Doubts over India hosting the 2021 event arose on July 20 when the ICC, while postponing the 2020 T20 World Cup to 2022 because of the pandemic, didn’t specify the venues for the 2021 and 2022 editions. Australia was scheduled to stage the 2020 competition in October-November.
India was awarded the 2021 tournament, but its host status was threatened after it did not meet the first deadline for securing tax exemptions from the Central government. As of now, India still retains hosting rights, with the ICC extending the deadline to December 31.
“The decisions were taken by the IBC (commercial subsidiary of ICC) following an extensive contingency planning exercise which has taken into account the health, cricket and commercial impact of COVID-19 around the world,” the ICC said in a statement.
It is learnt that the decision to postpone the Women’s World Cup was more due to commercial reasons, with the ICC and its broadcasting partner preferring to save costs in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic. However, ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney cited a lack of game-time for cricketers as the primary cause for the deferment.
