KOLKATA: BCCI has opposed the International Cricket Council’s decision to convert the 2021 Champions Trophy into a T20 tournament as it goes against the members playing agreement.
The decision is set to be ratified on Wednesday, but it remains to be seen how ICC goes about it, as there is already a World T20 stated for 2020, which is to be hosted by Australia in October and November. On Tuesday, ICC confirmed the 2019 World Cup fixtures, with the BCCI successfully pushing its opening match back by three days to comply with the Lodha Panel recommendations.
As a result, India’s opening match against South Africa would be played on June 5, 15 days after the 2019 IPL final. According to Lodha guidelines, there has to be a gap of between days between the IPL and India’s next international assignment. With each of the 10 World Cup teams set to play against each other, the tournament would begin on May 30 and run till July 14 across 14 venues. Old Trafford in Manchester playing host to the highprofile match involving India and Pakistan on June 16.
Irrespective of BCCI’s stand on it, the future of the Champions Trophy format is still not clear. Though ICC has flirted with the idea of converting the event into a T20 one in the past, the success of the 2013 edition made them rethink. And even the 2017 edition proved to successful, but with only 10 teams allowed to play in the World Cup and only eight in Champions Trophy, it reckons that a 16-team tournament in T20 format would benefit the Associate members.
BCCI’s contention is that there is already a WT20 and it is more open to a 10-team Champions Trophy. “We are in a situation where there will be back-toback ICC T20 events. There is no necessity for it, as if we play host to one, it would mean two T20 events in less than 12 months with different names. We will ask for a rethink,” a board official told Express