The much awaited T20 World Cup which is scheduled to be held in in October-November in Australia is likely to be postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. an official announcement from the ICC is expected before the end of May. The member boards are set to participate in an ICC teleconference in the coming week, when an official decision will be taken. With Australia's international borders closed till mid-September, incoming passengers requiring to undergo two-week quarantine and plenty more logistical issues facing ICC and Cricket Australia, the situation is not in favour of a 16-team tournament. According to the report, the ICC will discuss alternate options including Australia hosting the tournament in February/March 2021, India and Australia swapping hosting rights for the T20 World Cups (Australia to host in 2021, India in 2022), and Australia hosting the tournament in 2022.
Once it's official, the window could be used by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to begin planning for an Indian Premier League. The IPL 2020 has been suspended due to the COVID-19 situation, but with sports facilities opening up, hopes for the tournament to happen this year have increased.BCCI CEO Rahul Johri recently said that cricketing activities could resume after the monsoons in the country. India are also in talks with Cricket South Africa for a three-T20I series in South Africa in August. "IPL is one of the greatest engagers. More people watched the IPL last year than those who voted for general elections. For sponsors, cricket is a leader and it will lead the way. The recovery will be sharper than a V-shaped recovery," he had said. The election process to replace outgoing ICC chief Shashank Manohar is also set to be discussed during the ICC conference.
