Next edition of the World T20 likely to be held in 2020
What’s the Story?
If sources in the International Cricket Council are to believed, then the World T20 could next be staged only in 2020 and not in 2018, as has been the case usually with the event being conducted on a two-year cycle.
The reason for this being cited is that teams will be busy with bilateral commitments all around the world and hence a window has been hard to find, in order to stage the event.
"Yes, it is true that we are skipping with World T20 edition in 2018. Look, no venue was decided. The primary reason is there are too many bilateral series happening between member nations. It was not possible to schedule the tournament in 2018,"
"Yes, the tournament will return in 2020. It could be South Africa or Australia. The other reason apart from the bilateral series was that with too many ICC events on the anvil, the member nations were also of the view that it needed to be spaced out," an influential source in the ICC said.
In case you didn’t know...
Barring one edition, each time the World T20 has been played on a two-year cycle. Only the 2010 edition in the West Indies a year after Pakistan won the competition in England, while the others have been played on a two-year gap.
The heart of the matter
The source further felt that shifting the event to 2020 would not hinder the ICC a great deal as fans still had multiple T20 leagues to look forward to all around the world, where they could see the best players in action.
Another development is the Champions Trophy, scheduled to be played in 2021 in India, is still on the cards. Both the ongoing edition in England and the previous one in 2013 received positives responses from the fans and it remains to be seen what happens in 2021.
What’s next?
If the World T20 is scrapped in 2018, it remains to be seen how the governing body generates the revenue next year. There is an Under-19 World Cup scheduled between the 13th of January and the 3rd of February in New Zealand and they will need to look to cash in on this event.
Author’s take
From a fan’s perspective, this news could come as a disappointment since the World T20 is one of the most eagerly awaited events. But, hopefully, when the competition does return in 2020, one will get some of the best players in action, firing all cylinders.