The 2021 Men's T20 World Cup is set to begin in the UAE from October 17, with the final for the 16-team tournament scheduled for November 14.
ESPNcricinfo understands that the tournament will begin a few days after the IPL final, which is likely to take place on October 15. The remaining matches of IPL 2021 will be played in the UAE from September 19.
While the BCCI is yet to officially write to the ICC about shifting the T20 World Cup to the UAE, it has already got the ball rolling in terms of planning for the tournament to be held in the Middle East. According to the current plan, the first round of the T20 World Cup will be divided into two groups and will be played in UAE and Oman.
Round 1, consisting of 12 matches, will involve eight teams, of which four (the top two from each group) will qualify for the Super 12. Four of the eight teams - Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea - will then move into the Super 12 by joining the top eight ranked T20I teams.
The Super 12 phase, consisting of 30 matches, is scheduled to begin on October 24. The Super 12s, where the teams will be divided into two groups of six each, will be played at three venues in the United Arab Emirates – Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. This will be followed by three playoff matches - two semi-finals and the final.
With Round 1 being co-hosted by either of the UAE and Oman venues, the BCCI is confident that will provide enough time for the Super 12 to refresh the pitches at the main grounds in the UAE.
On June 1, the ICC gave the BCCI until the end of June to give its final word on whether India would be able to host the T20 World Cup. With the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting the global cricket calendar last year, the ICC postponed the 2020 World Cup, which was originally scheduled to be held in Australia, and decided that India will play the 2022 edition with Australia in 2021. will host.
However, the dire pandemic situation in India, which was flattened by a second wave this summer, forced the BCCI to abruptly postpone the IPL at half-stage in May.
That development immediately raised doubts as to whether India might be fit to host the multi-team World T20, as travel between cities was identified as a major area of concern for teams outside the bubble during the IPL. I went. The BCCI had shortlisted nine venues for the T20 World Cup, but the inspecting ICC team had to cancel its tour in April.
Despite the decline in pandemic numbers since the alarming peak of the April-May period, public health experts have predicted that India will face a third wave in 2021. With the ICC deadline coming to an end in a few days, the BCCI is expected to make its decision public. On taking the incident outside the UAE.