BCCI To Remain Hosts Of 2021 T20 World Cup "Regardless Of Where The Event Is Played", Says ICC

This year's men's T20 World Cup could be moved from India to the United Arab Emirates the International Cricket Council (ICC) said Tuesday. The ICC added a final decision on the host country for the October-November event would be taken later this month, adding that the BCCI will retain the hosting rights regardless of where the event is played.

"The ICC board has requested management focus its planning efforts for the ICC men's T20 World Cup 2021 on the event being staged in the UAE with the possibility of including another venue in the Middle East," the statement said.

"A final decision on the host country will be taken later this month. The Board also confirmed that the BCCI will remain the hosts of the event regardless of where the event is played," it stated.

The statement came just two days after the BCCI announced that the lucrative Indian Premier League T20 franchise tournament, suspended after a new COVID-19 wave hit India, would be finished in the UAE in September and October.

Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said it would ask the ICC for more time to make a decision on whether India, the sport's economic powerhouse and one of the leading on-field nations, could still stage the T20 World Cup.

The IPL, the world's richest cricket tournament, was half-finished when it was halted on May 4 after a number of players and team officials caught the coronavirus despite being based in bio-secure bubbles.

The BCCI said that it was moving the remaining matches to the UAE -- which staged all of last year's IPL -- -- because of the monsoon season.