The 2021 edition of the men’s T20 World Cup will take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), tentatively from October 17 to November 14, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
Three venues in UAE – Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai – will host the T20 World Cup games, with Oman hosting the qualifiers.
“Round 1, which will include 12 matches, will comprise eight teams from which four (top two from each group) would qualify for the Super 12s. Four team from this lot of eight – Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea – will then progress to the Super 12s, joining the top eight ranked T20I teams.
The Super 12s phase, comprising 30 matches, is scheduled to start from October 24. The Super 12s, where teams will be split across two groups of six each, will be played at three venues in the UAE – Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. This will be followed by three playoff games – the two semi-finals and the final,” the report added.
During a virtual meeting with all state associations a few weeks ago, the BCCI informed their board members that by shifting T20 World Cup from India to UAE, they will save more than 40 percent of their total earnings.
If T20 World Cup would have happened in India then board had to pay hefty tax. Also, with the new Delta variant of Covid-19 being detected in their country, the BCCI doesn’t want to take any risks.
Earlier, the ICC had confirmed that the BCCI would retain hosting rights of the T20 World Cup even if the tournament is moved out of India.
Meanwhile, the UAE leg of the remaining IPL 2021 will start on September 19, with the final on October 15.
The BCCI last month said that the remaining 31 matches, including 10 playoffs, of the suspended popular T20 extravaganza, will be completed in the UAE. It was suspended on May 4 due to rising cases of novel coronavirus in the bio-bubble created for the tournament.
