Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that India is still capable of hosting the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 in the country later this year amid the Coronavirus outbreak, as the COVID-19 situation is slowly getting better in the worst-affected nation.
He also urged the other cricket playing nations to “don’t jump the gun” to snatch the hosting rights of T20 World Cup 2021 from India, requesting all to give India a chance to stage the big event, as he is confident that the COVID-19 situation will significantly improve by August.
With the BCCI seeking an extension from the ICC to decide the fate of the T20 World Cup in India, Gavaskar said there is still a lot of time left for the showpiece event in October-November and they shouldn’t be in haste in shifting the tournament from India to the UAE.
His comments came after Australia’s Michael Hussey's remarks that India is no longer safe to travel for the T20 World Cup 2021. The former Indian captain hit back at the Chennai Super Kings’ batting coach by saying no Australians had asked for calling off the money-spinning India tour earlier this year when there were several COVID-19 cases, saying they should look at India as their own country before making any comment in this testing time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gavaskar wrote in his column for The Sportstar: “The Aussies had no compunction in going ahead with the money-spinning India tour even in cities where they had active Covid cases and again, whether it's a few hundred compared to hundred thousand cases, the fact is nobody in Australia suggested that the India tour be called off. Not only that, even the Australian Open tennis tournament went ahead despite active Covid cases in Melbourne.”
He further added, “So, all that is asked for is a similar sympathetic consideration from all those who are trying to take it away from India. If the situation does not improve by August end then by all means take it to the UAE, the standby location for the event, but please don’t jump the gun now.
UAE has shown in the recent past that it can handle big events and will definitely do a great job of hosting it. That should not be a surprise, especially to the Aussies as they have seen earlier in the year that even standbys can pack a punch. But please give India a chance as much as you gave your country to hold big events earlier in the year.”
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On Hussey's comments, the legendary batsman said: “As Mr. Cricket left for home shores he observed that it would not be possible to hold the ICC T20 World Cup in India in October this year. Yes, India is going through a horrific time with the virus spread but there are still more than four months to go for the mega event. More and more people are getting vaccinated and more and more cities and states are active in trying to control the spread.”
Gavaskar concluded, “In a country with a population as huge as India it is next to impossible to eradicate the disease but India in the past has combated successfully the SARS as well as bird flu. While some may argue that those were chicken feed diseases compared to Covid-19, the fact that India had controlled the first wave magnificently does give the confidence that the country can do it again but may take a little longer to do so.”
