There is no hiding to the fact that the novel COVID-19 pandemic has affected the cricket calendar in a significant manner. While the biggest T20 league in the Indian Premier League has already been postponed indefinitely, the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup in Australia might also get delayed.
Other than these two premier tournaments, another intriguing fixture involving the Indian players is India’s tour of Australia which is slated to follow the T20 World Cup.
Considering the financial aspect of the tour, it not happening will see Cricket Australia incurring losses in the range of $300m. It was due to the same reason that Cricket Australia had put forward the prospect of playing a five-Test series without spectators at the Adelaide Oval.
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In a recent interaction with Nine Entertainment, BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) treasurer Arun Dhumal pointed out how confirming the fixtures at this point in time is difficult for both the boards. Dhumal also hinted at finances playing a role in deciding the number of Test and white-ball matches.
“Once we are sure when cricket will resume, then only will we be able to make a final call on that [fixtures]. That discussion [on five Tests] took place before the lockdown. If there is a window available it would be up to the boards to decide whether they wanted to go for a Test match or maybe two ODIs or maybe two T20s.
“Given the revenue loss they [Cricket Australia] will have on account of lockdown, post-lockdown they will want to have revenue and revenue most likely will come from ODIs or T20s much more than a Test match,” Dhumal was quoted as saying by Nine Entertainment.
Arun Dhumal backs two-week isolation period
Despite frequent discussions between the boards and administrators, there still remains a lot of uncertainty regarding when the sport will resume primarily due to the ongoing global crisis.
Most recently, England fast bowler Mark Wood was affirmative about self-isolating for two week before cricket resumes in England. The same will be done to make sure that all people involved in a match are of sound health and are not showing any coronavirus symptoms.
Opening up on a similar note, Dhumal backed the notion of Indian players self-isolating in Australia for over a fortnight before the tour of Australia.
“There is no choice, everyone will have to do that [self-isolate]. You would want to resume the cricket. Two weeks is not that long a lockdown.
“That would be ideal for any sportsman because when you are in quarantine for such a long period, then going to another country and having a two-week lockdown it would be a good thing to do. We’ll have to see what the norms are post this lockdown,” Dhumal said.
