After its board meeting last month, the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to continue exploring different contingency plans for the future of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020, slated to be held in Australia from October 18 to November 15.

Meanwhile, a report published in The Daily Telegraph claims that the showpiece tournament is set to be officially postponed this week as Australia’s players are told to start preparing for the England tour.

Australian players have already started training, indicating that they will return to action in September via the limited-overs tour to England. The series will be played in the bio-secure bubble as the game remains in the grips of COVID-19 pandemic.

While the apex body has continuously deferred a final call on the fate of the T20 World Cup, it seems imminent that the marquee event will be shifted to some other year within the current FTP cycle running until 2023.

The confirmation will allow administrators around the world to start drawing up their fixtures for the coming months.

There is also speculation that the BCCI will use T20 World Cup window to accommodate the 13th edition of Indian Premier League, which currently remains suspended until further notice.

The report further tells that ICC’s board meeting on Friday (July 10) won’t necessarily determine when the T20 World Cup will be moved to.

CA has reportedly expressed interest in hosting the tournament in October 2021 but India is due to host that year’s event, and officials are fearing Australia’s bid will be pushed by two years.

(Inputs from The Daily Telegraph)