Former Sri Lankan captain and present President of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), Kumar Sangakkara recently commented about changing the cricket world after coronavirus pandemic. He also talked about the postponement option of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020.
Australia will organise the seventh edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which has been scheduled between 29th March and 24th May 2020. A total of 16 teams will participate in this tournament which is going to be big hectic for the logistic management during this crisis. The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Cricket Australia (CA) are yet to decide the fate of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020, but they are currently not much confident to go on according to the actual schedule.
We will get more clarity as time goes: Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara recently claimed that it would take some time to adjust with the situation. Observing the present condition in the coronavirus pandemic, Sangakkara feels that the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 can be postponed. He has emphasised to the health and safety of the players and spectators.
Sangakkara told Star Sports show Cricket Connected, “The real thing is what’s going to happen with the virus. Is it going to disappear like SARS and MERS, or is this something that’s going to come back seasonally? Will we have to live with this particular virus or different strains of it from time to time or do we have to live with it long term?
“If that’s the case, then some of the changes that we have seen in our lives now, may be the new normal for us for a few years until a vaccine is found or until there’s enough immunity globally among the people to withstand this. So, those are really questions that I don’t think anyone can answer at the moment.
“We will get more clarity as time goes by. So, I can imagine sitting around a table for the ICC, trying to understand, consulting with experts to understand what’s going on. And more so, the questions that a lot of us have in our minds have still not been answered by the top most experts in the world.
“Everyday, there are new learnings, new things being found out, so we will have to wait and see, but the options maybe to cancel it this year, postpone it to another year, but to have in place anticipatory procedures that take into account health and safety of both the players and the spectators, and make sure that’s iron clad.”
If the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 gets cancelled, it can be shifted in 2021 or 2022. According to the earlier-made FTP schedule, India will organise the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 in October-November 2021.
While there is no ICC Men’s tournament has been scheduled in 2022, we can see an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in this year, in the case of any postponement of the forthcoming T20 World Cup.
On the other hand, India will also host the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in February-March.