The ICC board will be holding a virtual meeting on Tuesday and it is likely that the BCCI will be asking for more time to decide on T20 World Cup 2021, which is scheduled to be played in India in October-November.
Due to the recent surge in COVID numbers in India, the ICC has been looking at other alternate venues as a backup for the T20 World Cup 2021, with UAE being the frontrunner to host the ICC event. However, BCCI is expected to ask for one more month before taking a final call, given that India has seen a substantial fall in daily numbers which have gone from 4,00,000 plus to just above 1,50,000 cases.
It was decided that BCCI president Sourav Ganguly will attend the meet in person, now it is learnt that now he will be present virtually and will only leave for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday to have discussions on the organization of IPL with Emirates Cricket Board.
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There are no concrete outcomes expected at the meeting and after 1 July, the BCCI will hold another SGM. The ICC is likely to make a formal announcement of its final decision during its annual conference that starts on 18 July.
The Indian cricket board doesn't want to let go of the opportunity of hosting the global T20 event, despite shifting the remainder of the IPL 2021 to the UAE, which is the backup venue for the ICC event.
"The COVID-19 cases are reducing but obviously it is still not a situation where we can firmly commit to hosting the World T20. Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah are right in asking for one month's time to decide. Obviously, they will also get feedback from the government whether it would be prudent to host it in India,” a senior BCCI source privy to developments told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“The second aspect is that you never know when the cases rise again. Right now, the lockdown in various parts of the country is yielding some good results but as we had seen the sudden surge during IPL, the situation remains fluid," he said.
However, one thing is that if India remains the host of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, there is no question of nine cities being allotted games.
“If BCCI manages to host the tournament in October-November which is currently a 50-50 probability, it could well mean single city three venues in Mumbai along with Pune and Ahmedabad as the venue for the final. This curtails travel. But Pakistan team playing in Maharashtra and Gujarat also needs to be factored in," the source said.
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Another issue troubling the BCCI is the tax waiver that ICC gets for its global events. While the BCCI is in talks with the Indian government, with no easy solutions in sight, it might come to the Indian board having to forego ICC revenue to the tune of USD 125 million (INR 905 crore approx), if it fails to get the tax waiver.
"In this post-pandemic world and a hostile economic climate which is pretty hostile, the Indian government providing a tax relief close to Rs 1000 crore for a cricket event seems like wishful thinking. But then if BCCI can pull it off, good for them. In any case, we are not likely to give up on our hosting rights even if it is held in the UAE," the BCCI source said.
The Futures Tours & Programme Cycle for the next eight years from 2023 to 2031 will also be discussed with provision for the flagship ICC events apart from the bilateral series.
"Obviously due to the pandemic, every cricket board has lost money and the bilateral events are the way forward to recover the costs. They need to look after the financial health of their boards," the official further added.
The future of the World Test Championship will also be discussed after a much curtailed first edition due to the pandemic. ICC chairman Greg Barclay, a few months back, had expressed his apprehensions about the future of the tournament.
(PTI inputs)
