Harsha Bhogle says postponement of this year's T20 World Cup was 'inevitable'

Harsha Bhogle has said that the postponement of this year's ICC T20 World Cup was inevitable due to the ongoing global pandemic. In a major development, the upcoming T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Australia later this year has been postponed to 2021 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision was taken in the ICC meeting held on Monday. The ICC has zeroed down a window between October-November 2021 for the postponed World Cup with the final date being November 14. 

'It was inevitable': Harsha Bhogle

Taking to the micro-blogging site, Harsha Bhogle mentioned that the postponement of the T20 cricket's showpiece event was inevitable as taking 15 teams to one country, handling quarantine and all that comes with it was always going to be impossible to manage.

In another tweet, the 'Voice of Indian Cricket' added that the postponement of the T20 World Cup formally opens up a window for IPL 2020. At the same time, the veteran commentator also made it clear that the IPL was not the reason for the postponement but that the situation with COVID and it's implications for Australia created a window that didn't exist earlier.

T20 WC 2021 & 2023 ODI WC also rescheduled

The T20 World Cup 2021 has also been pushed to October – November 2022 with the final on 13 November 2022 while the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will be held in India between October – November 2023 with the final on 26 November 2023. 

"At today’s meeting of the IBC Board (the commercial subsidiary of the ICC), windows for the next three ICC men’s events were also agreed to bring clarity to the calendar and give the sport the best possible opportunity over the next three years to recover from the disruption caused by COVID-19," the ICC said in a statement. 

"The IBC Board agreed to continue to monitor the rapidly changing situation and assess all the information available in order to make a considered decision on future hosts to ensure the sport is able to stage safe and successful global events in 2021 and 2022. The IBC Board will also continue to evaluate the situation in relation to being able to stage the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 in New Zealand in February next year. In the meantime, planning for this event continues as scheduled," it added.

READ: T20 World Cup 2020 Postponed Amid COVID Crisis, ICC Reveals New Window; Check Here