Hosting T20 World Cup 2020 in October is impractical and naive amid coronavirus outbreak: BCCI official

The outbreak of the coronavirus has brought all sports activities to a halt and players are practising social distancing and self-isolation during the pandemic.

The ICC T20 World Cup 2020 has a scheduled start from October 18 till November 15 across seven iconic venues in Australia. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak across the globe, the tournament is likely to be hit with some changes.

While there are numerous speculations whether the International Cricket Council (ICC) will look to reschedule the tournament, a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official claimed that it "seems impractical" to host the T20 World Cup in October under such conditions.

"To be honest, the T20 World Cup in October seems to be impractical and even thinking of a gathering of people of that magnitude at this time is naive," the official was quoted as saying by IANS.

"I mean think about it. At this stage, you don’t know when international travel would be safe. Someone is saying June, someone is saying longer." 

"Once travel does open up, it would be prudent to study the impact of travel as to whether the coronavirus remains controlled or not," the official added.

Previously, ICC Chief Executive, Manu Sawhney had said that the elite body will be consulting the Australian government about the showpiece event.

"The question would then be whether the CA and the ICC are willing to stick their necks out and take responsibility for such an event where the number of people converging would be significant," the BCCI said while speaking on the topic of rescheduling the WC.

"Then it comes down to the governments. Would the Australian government want to take such a risk? If so, what would be the timeline of their approval? Would the time be sufficient for the other boards? Would the governments of other countries permit their teams to travel?"

"Lastly, with the condition that everyone is going through at the moment, would the fans want to gather in a stadium at this stage? Or would the tickets of only one out of 10 seats be made available to keep a semblance of social distancing norms in place?" the official asked.