The World Cricket Authority announced on Tuesday that the 20th World Cup will be held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from October 17 to November 14, due to the coronavirus situation in India.
“Our priority is to host the men’s ICC T20 2021 World Cup safely, fully, and in the current time slot,” said Jeff Alardica, acting executive director of the International Cricket Council.
“It gives us the security we need to hot the event in a country that has been shown to host international multi-team events in a biosafety setting, albeit we are extremely sorry that we have not been hosting the event in India.”
The tournament was originally supposed to take place in India, but the Indian Cricket Control Board told AFP on Monday that it would be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The event is now taking place at four venues – Dubai International Stadium, Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah Stadium, and Oman Cricket Ground.
The United Arab Emirates is the cricket destination of choice as the Pakistan Super League ended in the Gulf state last week.
The suspended IPL was moved to the UAE in September-October after being successfully played in the Gulf country last year.
The first round of the T20 World Cup, in which eight qualifying teams participated, will be split between Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Four of these teams then progressed to the Super 12 round, where they took part in eight automatic qualifiers.
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman, and Papua New Guinea will play in the preliminary rounds before the playoffs and final on November 14.
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