Former Sri Lanka captain and current Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) president Kumar Sangakkara has called for an "iron clad" plan before rushing into the 2020 T20 World Cup.
The tournament is scheduled to be held from October 18 to November 15 this year in Australia, but the shakeup in the cricket calendar due to the coronavirus pandemic has put the mega-event under a cloud of uncertainty.
"The real thing is what's going to happen with the virus. Is it going to disappear like SARS and MERS, or is this something that's going to come back seasonally? Will we have to live with this particular virus or different strains of it from time to time or do we have to live with it long term?
Advertisement
"If that's the case, then some of the changes that we have seen in our lives now, may be the new normal for us for a few years until a vaccine is found or until there's enough immunity globally among the people to withstand this. So, those are really questions that I don't think anyone can answer at the moment," Sangakkara said in Cricket Connected.
During Thursday's International Cricket Council (ICC) Board meeting, cricket's world body decided to defer taking a decision on the 2020 T20 World Cup, until June 10. It "requested the ICC management continue with their discussions with stakeholders in exploring various contingency options in light of the rapidly changing public health situation caused by the COVID 19 virus."
Advertisement
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia Chief Executive Kevin Roberts has admitted that there is a "very high risk" of the T20 World Cup not going through as scheduled.
"We will get more clarity as time goes by. So, I can imagine sitting around a table for the ICC, trying to understand, consulting with experts to understand what's going on. And more so, the questions that a lot of us have in our minds have still not been answered by the top most experts in the world," Sangakkara opined.
Sangakkara, who's the only wicketkeeper to score more than 10000 Test runs, added that postponing the T20 World Cup might be a wiser option.
"Everyday, there are new learnings, new things being found out, so we will have to wait and see, but the options may be to cancel it this year, postpone it to another year, but to have in place anticipatory procedures that take into account health and safety of both the players and the spectators, and make sure that's iron clad," Sangakarra said.
