Coronavirus: BCCI treasurer feels staging T20 World Cup will be 'difficult'

BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal says it would be asking a lot of players to hit the ground running in the ICC T20 World Cup later this year.

 
 

Indian cricket board treasurer Arun Dhumal claims it would be "difficult" for the ICC T20 World Cup to go ahead as scheduled in Australia later this year.

The tournament is due to get under way in October, but the coronavirus pandemic has sparked doubt over whether it can take place.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is going ahead with plans to stage the competition, but Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts said "all other options" are being explored.

Dhumal, from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has suggested it may be unrealistic for the World Cup to take place given players are likely to have spent a sustained period out of action.

He told the Sydney Morning Herald: "They will have been out of cricket for a long time. Would you want to be without training for that long and straight away go and play [the] World Cup?

"That is a call every board has to take. It seems to be difficult."

Dhumal says India would expect to be quarantined if they do travel to Australia.

"There is no choice - everyone will have to do that. You would want to resume the cricket." he added.

"Two weeks is not that long a lockdown. That would be ideal for any sportsman because when you are in quarantine for such a long period, then going to another country and having a two-week lockdown it would be a good thing to do.

"We'll have to see what the norms are post this lockdown."