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‘Use charter planes to bring players,’ Brad Hogg’s radical idea to host T20 World Cup as per schedule
The former left-arm chinaman also said rescheduling the tournament to a later date would not be appropriate as another T20 World Cup is slated to be played next year in India.
The pressure keeps increasing on international sports bodies to reschedule, postpone or cancel tournaments around the globe with each passing day as the world continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic. Cricket is not untouched by this issue as one of the most lucrative tournaments in the world has been pushed back further. The Indian Premier League (IPL) looks all set to be postponed indefinitely as the Indian government has extended the nationwide lockdown till May 3.
This also means other tournaments and series will suffer. The biggest of them all, the ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played in Australia through the October-November period, is also facing uncertainty. Former Australian spinner and World Cup winner Brad Hogg has some radical suggestions to make the tournament happen as per schedule.
Hogg posted a video on his Twitter account with the message, “Big question: what happens to this year’s T20 World Cup? Begins in around 6 months. Cancel it? Or just go ahead as planned? Time to talk about that on today’s episode of Hogg’s Vlog. Your thoughts on this matter? Let me know in the comments below. Let’s discuss!”
In the video he said the tournament should not be cancelled as millions of cricket lovers all across the globe want to get some entertainment and watch their favourite players, even though if it has to be in front of empty stands.
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The former left-arm chinaman also said rescheduling the tournament to a later date would not be appropriate as another T20 World Cup is slated to be played next year in India and that’s why organising two such tournaments within a span of six-eight months will not make much sense.
“We have to play the T20 World Cup as it is planned. A lot of players internationally have been in lockdown and they have not been able to go out and train. We have to get them in Australia probably a month and a half earlier,” Hogg said.
“There are no commercial flights, so we need to use charter flights. Each participant who will board the charter flights needs to be tested for coronavirus, if they pass the test, they come to Australia.
“When they arrive in Australia, they will be quarantined for two weeks and then they will be tested again. Once they pass it, they can train and play the tournament,” he added.
Earlier, former Australia captain Allan Border said that he cannot see the T20 World Cup be held behind closed doors amid the coronavirus pandemic. Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has also said that it won’t be easy to have a T20 World Cup without fans.
(With IANS inputs)
