As the IPL 2021 set to get underway on Friday (April 9) amidst the devastating spike in COVID-19 cases in India, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has expressed hope that India will host “the best-ever ICC T20 World Cup” in the country in October-November 2021.
With India recording more than 1 lakh COVID-19 cases for the past couple of days, several Indian states including Maharashtra have imposed partial lockdowns and night curfews to control the spread of the deadly virus – which put the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) under a cloud of uncertainty.
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However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made all possible efforts and arrangements to stage the lucrative tournament in India, and finally, the IPL 2021 is going to start from today (April 9) with Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore taking each other in Chennai.
But when it comes to multi-nation events, it would be a much more challenging task for the BCCI to conduct the T20 World Cup 2021 in such a COVID-19 situation, as they will have to ensure the security and safety of all foreign teams across the many venues in India for the showpiece tournament.
Although, Ganguly hopes that the COVID-19 situation would be brought under control until the coming season and BCCI would be able to host the best-ever ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in India later this year.
He had mentioned the same in his letter sent on April 2 to the presidents and secretaries of all the state associations to invite them to watch the IPL 14 opening game between MI and RCB on Friday in Chennai.
Ganguly wrote in the letter: “I am hopeful that in the coming season, we will be able to get back to normalcy and have the full domestic season and host the best-ever ICC T20 World Cup. All the international and domestic players deserve immense credit for staying in a bio-secure environment for such a long period of time and yet delivering such high quality and wonderful cricket.”
He also assured all the state associations that the BCCI is keen to organize domestic tournaments for the Under-19 boys in June-July 2021 only if the COVID-19 situation remains in control.
(With Time of India Inputs)
