The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday that the T20 World Cup will be played from October 17 to November 14. The announcement comes a day after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed its affiliates about hosting the tournament in the UAE and Oman due to COVID-19 conccerns.
Confirming that the event has been moved out of India “due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation in India”, a statement released by the ICC reaffirmed India as the host of the 16-team event.
“The BCCI will remain the hosts of the event, which will now be held in Dubai International Stadium, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the Sharjah Stadium, and the Oman Cricket Academy Ground, from 17 October to 14 November, the statement added.
The official fixtures are likely to be announced over the next couple of weeks. It is unlikely that India and Pakistan will be billed in the same group. The tournament is set to start with the qualification stage to be held in Muscat from October 17 to 23. Of the eight teams that will compete in the leg, four teams will join the eight direct entrants for the feature event.
Now that the suspense over the window for the T20 World Cup is over, the BCCI hierarchy is hoping to finalise the dates for the latter half of the Indian Premier League, set to start in UAE on September 19. While October 15 is being looked at a tentative date for the final, the schedule may be crunched should all stakeholders feel the necessity for a longer break between the IPL final and the T20 World Cup.
