International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed on November 12 that the 2021 World Cup will go ahead as planned in India. The countdown for the tournament was launched in Dubai on Thursday. The T-20 tournament is set to take place in October-November 2021.
This is not the first occasion for India to host the T-20 World Cup. The subcontinent nation hosted a similar tournament in 2016 when West Indies lifted the trophy after an enthralling win against England in the final. The hosts had reached the semi-finals during that tournament.
ICC had previously planned two successive T-20 World Cups in 2020 and 2021. The coronavirus pandemic forced them to move the 2020 tournament to 2022. Australia is set to host the event in 2022. The upcoming T20 World Cup will have 15 teams that will initially play in groups and then eventually move into the knockout phase.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah admitted that the board will leave no stone unturned to successfully host the tournament in 2021. He also insisted that BCCI will come up with innovative solutions to adapt to the challenging situation of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, BCCI president Saurav Ganguly is also looking forward to playing his part as an administrator in an ICC event. BCCI successfully organized the Indian Premier League 2020 in the UAE in the last two months. If there is a significant breakthrough in the development of a vaccine for coronavirus, then fans may get the opportunity to watch ICC T-20 World Cup 2021 in stadiums.
India is yet to win the tournament since winning the inaugural edition in 2007. They came close in 2016, but West Indies blew them away in the semi-finals. In home conditions, India will surely be favourites to lift the trophy. Virat Kohli is yet to get his hands on this ICC trophy. He will be hoping to open his account for ICC trophies as an Indian captain next summer.