BCCI has confirmed UAE alternative for T20 World Cup if COVID persists: Cricket Australia

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly confirmed that the T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in India later this year in October-November, will be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) if the COVID situation persists and doesn't allow the tourney to be staged in India, Cricket Australia informed on Friday.

As per Cricket Australia, senior BCCI official Dhirahj Malhotra, as quoted speaking to BBC's Stumped podcast, said that plans were still in discussion to host the T20 World cup in India despite the rising COVID cases and that UAE could be the alternative location to host the World Cup if not in India. The BCCI's General Manager of Game Development said they were taking all efforts to ensure the event was hosted by India and informed that they were in conversation with ICC regarding hosting the tournament in a normal scenario, COVID scenario and worst-case scenario. 

IPL is no stranger to being hosted in the Middle East, with the 2020 edition of the marquee tournament was conducted in UAE after the tourney was initially shelved after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic last year. In November 2020, the Honorary Secretary of BCCI, Jay Shah, had said that the BCCI will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the health and safety of everyone concerned in this event are taken care of. He also added that in times of pandemic when there are severe restrictions, the BCCI believes in the policy of innovating and adapting, and he was confident that they will overcome every challenge. 

Earlier this month, ICC CEO Geoff Allardice had hinted that the T20 World Cup may not be held in India if the COVID situation worsens, saying that the cricket’s top governing body has backup plans in place. However, Allardice added that he expects BCCI to host the World Cup as planned. Allardice said that the ICC will be closely monitoring the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that is entirely being held in India. The backup plan for the ICC T20 World Cup will only be activated if the situation arises. The World Cup is slated to be held in October-November and ICC is hoping the situation to improve by then. 

India's COVID situation

India has registered 3,86,452 new coronavirus infections in a span of 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far, pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,87,62,976, according to the ministry's data. Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan are the other states in the list of 10. Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 66,159, followed by Kerala 38,607 and Uttar Pradesh 35,104. In a significant development, more than 19 lakh (19,20,107) tests were conducted in a span of 24 hours, making it the highest single-day tests done in India, the ministry said. India's total active caseload has reached 31,70,228 and now comprises 16.90 per cent of the country's total infections. A net increase of 85,414 cases have been recorded in the total active caseload in a day.