BCCI and CA at loggerheads over right to hold 2021 T20 World Cup

The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to postpone the T20 World Cup to 2021 has put both Indian and Australian cricket boards in a quandary. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) already hold the right to host the T20 World Cup in 2021, according to ICC’s Future Tours Program (FTP).

India was originally slated to host the T20 World Cup 2021

However, with the 2021 edition getting postponed, the question is who among BCCI or Cricket Australia (CA) will get to host the next T20 World Cup. The BCCI is already sceptical about hosting the tournament in 2022 because they also hold the right to host the 50-over World Cup in 2023.

It is understood that CA have made a request to the ICC to hand them over the right to host the 2021 edition while the T20 World Cup 2022 should be held in India. The ICC are still undecided about the venues of the next two T20 World Cups and didn’t mention the same in the release they sent out on Monday (July 20) as well.

“See, the whole idea is to reach a decision which is agreeable to all. The only reason why the venues haven't been given and the 50-over World Cup has been delayed by a few months is to keep enough breathing space for the broadcasters if the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup goes to Australia and India host the two tournaments back-to-back. You cannot really have two events in India in six months,” an ICC board member was quoted as saying by IANS news agency.

The BCCI is confident that they will be able to reach an amicable decision with their Australian counterparts.

“The BCCI and CA share a very strong bond and any decision in this regard would be taken keeping each others' trust and after discussions between the two boards. With the exit of the former chairman, the era of cloak and dagger in the ICC is all but over,” a BCCI official told IANS.

According to the ICC press release, the windows for the men's events are as follows:

• ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 will be held October – November 2021 with the final on 14 November 2021
• ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 will be held October – November 2022 with the final on 13 November 2022
• ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 will be held in India October – November 2023 with the final on 26 November 2023.

The 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup which will be held in India has also been delayed by six months as it was originally supposed to be held in the months of February and March, 2023.