T20 World Cup set to be postponed to 2022, IPL likely in October-November: Reports

Just a day before the all-important International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting, reports have surfaced that the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be hosted by Australia in October-November, is all set to be postponed till 2022, opening a window for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 later in the year. 

The move to push back the much-talked-about T20 World Cup to 2022 is because there is another T20 World Cup scheduled for 2021 to be hosted by India and there is a consensus that playing two T20 World Cups in a year seems improper. 

As per reports, host broadcasters Star Sports were worried about hosting an IPL in six months followed by two T20 World Cups in the year 2021. 

Notably, there is no major ICC event scheduled for the year 2022 so moving the T20 World Cup by two years is a feasible option for everyone given the situation surrounding COVID-19 and broadcasting market. 

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Hence, India will host the T20 World Cup in 2021, followed by a T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022 and then the 50-over World Cup in 2023, scheduled to be hosted by India. 

The postponement of the T20 World Cup will open a window for IPL but everyone is not looking to jump the gun and are waiting to see how the situation surrounding COVID-19, in India, pans out in coming weeks. If everything goes as per a plan, then a formal announcement regarding IPL is expected in July with back-end preparations starting from June. 

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On bilateral cricket, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and CA’s Kevin Roberts are in talks and the tour is on. England’s tour of India in 2021 remains unscratched.

ICC meeting is set to take place on May 28 with a formal announcement on T20 World Cup expected as cricket gears up for a return post a prolonged break.