Amid speculations that the World Test Championship might be called off in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been reliably learnt that the Board of Control for Cricket in India has made it clear to the International Cricket Council that it would not like the World Test Championship (WTC) be deferred.
In fact, the BCCI informed the ICC and other member nations of its stance even before today's Chief Executives' Committee meeting got underway, a senior BCCI official told THE WEEK.
Virat Kohli-led Team India is currently ranked number one in the ICC Test rankings, and despite losing to New Zealand in the last Test series it played before the lockdown, it looks all set to make it to the final scheduled to be played at Lord's, England, next year.
The ICC held the meeting today via video conference to discuss the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on cricket. After the meeting, a statement from the international cricket body said that any discussions and decisions of the future of both the WTC and 2020–22 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League "will be held at a later date when there is a greater understanding of the impact of the cricket lost on the competitions".
With all sporting activity, including cricket, coming to a standstill due to the pandemic, there have been reports prior to the meeting that some ICC members have asked for the WTC to be called off due to the disruption in the current Future Tours Programme (FTP). More so, because there is no clear idea when international cricket will resume. The WTC, as per present schedule, has to finish by March 2021, but the pandemic has resulted in major disruption of bilateral cricket.
"Even when the discussions regarding the new FTP were taking place, we had ensured that our Test cricket does not suffer,” the senior BCCI official told THE WEEK. “We did not compromise at all on the number of Test matches we wanted to play. We are very clear that the long format is the pinnacle of cricket. Why would we even talk of changing or deferring the Test championship?"
Meanwhile, the focus in today's ICC meeting was on the briefing given by the ICC's Chairman of Medical Committee Dr Peter Harcourt, who explained in detail the roadmap that would be created to decide when cricket could resume and create a checklist of criteria that would be necessary to meet at different stages to be able to do so. "This will consider everything from player preparation to government restrictions and advisories and bio-bubbles.”
There was no discussion related to the postponement of the ICC Men's Twenty20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Australia in October this year. There are some cricket officials who believe IPL can be organised in the September-October window ahead of T20 World Cup or in its slot, if the situation is conducive. But a decision on it seems unlikely in near future. Even BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has recently stated that there was "no chance of cricket being played in India in near future".
Besides, there is the ICC annual conference that is scheduled to be held in July in South Africa. However, given the situation, there is no guarantee it would happen.
The BCCI office-bearers are concerned about "its loss of influence" among ICC's member countries and are keen on regaining some of the lost clout it held till a few years ago. Any stance that the BCCI takes will not be by “antogonising” other ICC members, THE WEEK has reliably learnt. Therefore, issues related to IPL or T20 World Cup would be taken after weighing all these. In this context, BCCI
Secretary Jay Shah's statement to his ICC colleagues in the video conference, where he, reportedly, said, "BCCI will do its best to support the cricket fraternity", is significant.
