BCCI hoping for formal postponement of T20 World Cup
BCCI is hoping that the ICC will make an official announcement regarding the fate of the T20 World Cup later today.
The ICC board is scheduled to have a virtual meeting today and such a decision by the global cricket governing body will ensure that the IPL can go ahead later this year.
The T20 World Cup was set to take place in Australia from October 15 to November 18 but Cricket Australia has already expressed its reluctance to go ahead with the hosting plans.
Cricket Australia not willing to host the T20 World Cup
Cricket Australia's unwillingness to host the T20 World Cup became clearer when it announced a 26-man squad to prepare for a limited-overs tour of England in late September.
Speaking of the matter, a BCCI official expressed his disappointment over ICC's undue delay regarding the announcement of the T20 World Cup's fate as it also meant that no solid decision has yet been made on IPL 13's future:
"The first step was postponement of Asia Cup, which has happened. We can only start to move ahead with our plans after the ICC announces the postponement. They have been sitting on the decision even after Cricket Australia said that they are not too keen on hosting the event."
ICC, on the other hand, has maintained that it wants to explore all contingency plans before embarking upon such a decision. A source familiar to the functioning of the governing body revealed that the ICC usually takes its time before making a decision of such magnitude.
He also added that some of the ministers from the Australian government had expressed eagerness to host the T20 World Cup despite the COVID-19 scare.
"The ICC couldn't have just postponed the T20 World Cup immediately as initially, the top ministers of the Australian government expressed keenness to host."
With the likely deferment of the T20 World Cup, it is expected that this year's edition will now be held in Australia in 2022 rather than 2021 since India doesn't want to swap its hosting rights of the mega-event for next year.