T20 Word Cup will be played in UAE, confirms BCCI secretary Jay Shah

The T20 World Cup 2021 is all set to move out of India to UAE with the BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirming the development. Shah said the board will inform the ICC about the same later today.

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“We will inform ICC today that we are shifting the T20 World Cup to UAE. The dates of the tournament, the ICC needs to decide,” Shah said

Earlier, the ICC clarified that BCCI will keep the hosting rights of the marquee event irrespective of the venue. Looking at the current situation of COVID-19 in India, the BCCI played safe and agreed to shift the tournament to UAE. Meanwhile, the second leg of the Indian Premier League will also be played in the UAE. The IPL gets underway on September 19, with the final to be played on October 15. There are also reports that T20 World Cup will be played between October 17 and November 15. However, any official confirmation is not out yet.

The ICC is also likely to add Oman’s capital Muscat as a secondary venue where the qualifiers of the mega event can be played. This has been done to ensure that pitches in UAE do not get exhausted as we move to the business end of the tournament. The first round of the T20 World Cup will see Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland and Papua New Guinea competing. The top four will progress to the Super 12s, where they will join the top eight teams.

The 12 teams will be divided into two groups and the top two teams from each group will progress through to the semi-finals.