A Lot Of Boards Would Be Nervous About Going To India - Michael Hussey Feels It's Difficult To Host T20 World Cup In India, Considers UAE As Alternative

Former Australia batsman Michael Hussey reckons it would be very difficult to conduct the T20 World Cup in India later in the year as the country grapples with the second wave of the covid-19 and record huge numbers of cases and deaths.

Michael Hussey, who has returned to Australia after recovering from Covid-19 that he contracted during his stint as the Chennai Super Kings batting coach in the IPL 2021, opines that the cricket boards will be reluctant to send their players to India for the T20 World Cup, which will be a 16-team event, in October-November.

The left-hander, who is currently in quarantine in Sydney, feels the UAE would be the correct alternative to host the showpiece tournament; three cities of UAE – Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai – hosted the IPL 2020 and the tournament was concluded smoothly.

“I think it’s going to be very difficult in my view to play that tournament [T20 World Cup] in India. We’re talking about eight teams in the IPL. I think there are probably similar number, maybe more teams coming in from overseas [for the T20 World Cup], there’d be more venues. As I said earlier, if they’re playing in different cities, that is when the risk goes up,” Michael Hussey told Fox Cricket.

“I think they’ll have to look some pretty big contingency plans, perhaps looking at the UAE or somewhere like that that could host the World T20. I think there will be a lot of cricket boards around the world that’d be pretty nervous about going back to India for a cricket tournament,” he added.

BCCI calls SGM on May 29 to discuss hosting of T20 World Cup

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has called for a Special General Meeting (SGM), to be held virtually on May 29, just ahead of the ICC meeting on June 1. . The key topic of discussion would be the hosting of the T20 World Cup.

The board had earlier named nine venues – Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Dharamsala, and Lucknow – to conduct the T20 World Cup. However, the final decision would be taken by the ICC as India battles the raging pandemic.

“The ICC will have the meeting on June 1 and before that, we will have our own 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,” a source told ANI.

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