Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey

After months of speculation, the ICC has finally made a decision on the T20 World Cup, postponing the tournament until October-November 2021. The news comes as a disappointment to cricket players and lovers, particularly those of associate nations, as a global tournament is one to always look forward to.

Earlier this year, CA chairman Earl Eddings said that the tournament going ahead in 2020 was “unrealistic” and “very, very difficult.” More recently, Australia were reportedly told to prepare for the limited-overs series in England – one that Ashley Giles is “quietly confident” about – as the T20 World Cup was set to be postponed.

The main concern about hosting the tournament in 2020 was bringing the 15 other teams over, and having them quarantine appropriately ahead of a global event. Also concerning is the significant spike in cases in Victoria, as well as fears of a second wave in New South Wales.

Future of ICC Men’s Events

In Monday’s meeting, the ICC board agreed on three windows for men’s events.

First of all, the next two T20 World Cups will be played in October-November 2021 and 2022 respectively. However, it is still undecided as to which country – Australia or India – will host the events, as India was pencilled in to host the 2021 edition.

Second, the 2023 ODI World Cup has been pushed back from February-March to October-November that year, as the ICC wants more time to complete the qualification process for the event. The ICC ODI League, originally set to start in May 2020, was the qualification pathway for the tournament. However, it is been put on hold as cricket came to a halt due to the pandemic.

Door opens up for IPL 2020 to take place

The September-November 2020 window is now available for the IPL to take place. One always felt that the IPL was more likely to go ahead than the T20 World Cup this year, especially given the financial losses that the BCCI would incur if the tournament doesn’t go ahead.

Also read: 3 reasons why the IPL was always likely to go ahead this year

Last week, the BCCI stated that the tournament is likely to go ahead in the UAE, due to the COVID-19 situation in India. President Sourav Ganguly has always stayed firm on trying to get the IPL going ahead this year, after it was postponed indefinitely after being originally postponed to April 15 (from March 29).

The BCCI have written to the Indian government granting permission for the tournament to go ahead. Now that the T20 World Cup has been postponed, all planning can be catered to staging the tournament in the September-November window.

Also read:

• 3 reasons why the IPL was always likely to go ahead this year
• Australia told to prepare for England as T20 World Cup is to be postponed – reports
• BCCI working on all options to stage IPL in 2020 – Ganguly