With an eye on the ICC meeting that is scheduled on June 1, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly called for a Special General Meeting (SGM) to be conducted virtually on May 29. The main agenda of the meeting will be discussing the hosting of the T20 World Cup.
While speaking ANI, a source close to the BBCI has said that the idea to call for the meeting is to discuss the way forward with hosting the T20 World Cup in October-November.
“The ICC will have the meeting on June 1 and before that, we will have our meeting on May 29 to discuss the COVID-19 situation and what all measures need to be taken with an eye on the T20 World Cup which is slated to be held in India in October-November.”
During the previous meeting, BCCI had directed the state associations to keep the preparations going for the event also keeping the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in mind. The board has shortlisted nine venues for the event — Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Dharamsala, and Lucknow. Apart from the T20 World Cup, the international calendar, as well as women’s cricket, will be discussed in detail at the SGM meeting.
Previous reports have suggested that BCCI could consider shifting T20 World Cup to UAE. However, that plan is on standby. The covid situation in the country will dictate the situation. The doubts over India hosting the World Cup are bigger than ever after Indian Premier League 2021 was indefinitely suspended due to COVID cases in the bio bubbles of four teams. The suspended IPL could result in losses worth Rs 3000 crore in this year’s revenue, as per reports IPL 2021 was expected to bring in about Rs 4000 crore for BCCI. The Indian cricket board will be hoping that T-20 World Cup goes ahead in India to avoid further losses.