Amidst COVID threat, ICC affirms Plan B in place for T20 World Cup; working with BCCI

With the growing concern over the COVID-19 surge in India, the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday said that it is closely working with the BCCI to ensure the safe conduct of the T20 World Cup slated to be held in October this year. Maintaining that the marquee event will proceed as planned in India, the ICC stated that plan B has been put in place in case things go down south. The T20 World Cup, originally scheduled to be held in 2020, had to be postponed due to the Coronavirus outbreak which subsequently led to a rejig in the Future Tours Programme (FTP) and the schedule of ICC events. 

"We are certainly proceeding with the event as planned. Plan B we have, but we haven't activated those plans yet. We are working with the BCCI, we do have backup plans that can be activated if the time comes," said ICC interim CEO Geoff Allardice, as per PTI. 

Acknowledging the COVID-19 threat looming over the sport after the resumption, the ICC interim CEO also said that they have been talking to other sports bodies to know about their methods. Allardice affirmed that the upcoming World Test Championship will also proceed without any further changes. The venue for the grand event had been changed from Lord's to Southampton amid the virus concerns. Meanwhile, as per reports, the UAE could be a backup option for the T20 World Cup after is successfully hosted the IPL last year. 

Allardice comments come amidst the surge in COVID-19 cases which has concerned the IPL 2021 as well. Even before the commencement of the tournament, several members of the franchises' support staff and players have contracted the virus, thereby raising an iota of doubt over the proceedings. However, the IPL is slated to take place as per the schedule behind closed doors, the BCCI has confirmed. 

Allardice acknowledged the challenges countries are facing in order to host cricket matches and tournaments in terms of maintaining communication with their respective governments. "The vaccination role in different countries might change the dynamics... They have done an amazing job in the last 10 months in hosting matches."

COVID threat over IPL 2021

The Coronavirus has rocked the marquee T20 league slated to get underway from April 9 onwards. With the COVID-19 cases witnessing an unprecedented surge, concerns have been raised over the capability of venues like Mumbai to host the tournament without any hiccups. So far, three players have already pulled out of the tournament citing personal reasons. Apart from that several players including Nitish Rana, Devdutt Padikkal and Axar Patel have also contracted the infection just days before their first game. As per reports, BCCI is closely monitoring the situation in Mumbai and has already placed Hyderabad on stand-by to host Wankhede's fixtures.