ICC to allow 15 players per team in T20 World Cup 2021; Sept 10 last date to announce squads - Reports
The ICC T20 World Cup 2021 is a little over two months away and it has been confirmed today that the International Cricket Council will allow a total of 23 members (15 players + 8 officials) per team in the competition.
Initially, India was supposed to host the competition. However, the BCCI moved the tournament to the United Arab Emirates and Oman because of the COVID-19 situation in India. The tournament will have 16 participants.
An official from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) informed PTI today that the ICC has given permission to the international boards to carry extra players with the squad because of the quarantine rules. However, the international cricket governing body will bear the expenses of only 15 players and eight officials.
"The ICC has also allowed all participating nations to bring additional players with their squads because of the COVID-19 situation and bio-secure bubbles. However, the concerned boards will have to bear the costs of these additional players. The ICC bears the expenses of only 15 players and eight officials," the official stated.
The official further revealed that all boards will have to send their T20 World Cup 2021 squad by September 10. The ICC will allow participating teams to make last-minute changes to their squads till up to five days before quarantine begins.
It is now up to the boards to decide how many additional players they want in the T20 World Cup: Sources
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Because of the bio-bubble and quarantine rules in place, all the international bodies will likely name a few additional players in their T20 World Cup squads. This is so that these players can join the team as injury or COVID-19 replacements as soon as possible.
The PCB official stated that the ICC will allow the boards to decide the number of additional players they want.
"It is now up to the boards to decide how many additional players they want to have with their main squads given the COVID-19 situation because if any player tests positive or they are injury issues, the teams can take replacements from their additional players," the official concluded.