The ICC chief executive, David Richardson, initially spoke about the “likely” conversion of the 2021 Champions Trophy to a World T20. (Source: PTI)
The International Cricket Council (ICC) spoke about converting the 2021 Champions Trophy into a World T20. The BCCI, the host of the CT 2021, refused to budge. The fight is on.
The ICC chief executive, David Richardson, initially spoke about the “likely” conversion of the 2021 Champions Trophy to a World T20 while addressing the press following the culmination of the global body’s almost a week-long conclave in Kolkata on Thursday. Then, during the question/answer session, he confirmed the format-switch. “As far as the conversion from the Champions Trophy to a World T20 is concerned, the BCCI officials attended the meeting when that happened and the vote was passed unanimously. So I don’t think that’s an issue.”
According to an ICC source, a “unanimous” decision in this regard was taken during the ICC meeting in Dubai on February 9. When contacted by The Indian Express, the BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said: “India will never support that.”
The BCCI fears a loss of about $30 million if the CT 2021 is replaced by a World T20 and the cricket board treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry refused to take the ICC’s version as a fait accompli. “I will not take their word for it. Without speaking to the BCCI representative it would be incorrect for me to comment on it,” Chaudhry told this paper. “I’m not aware as to what exactly transpired in the ICC meetings. But it’s for the general body to take a call on this.”
The BCCI general body meeting in December last year had given an “in-principle approval” to the new FTP (Future Tours Programme), with India hosting the 2021 Champions Trophy and the 2023 World Cup.
The grapevine has it that the ICC is under pressure from its host broadcaster to convert the Champions Trophy to a World T20, as the shortest format would have 16 teams compared to eight in the CT, offering more matches and a wider global coverage. And it obviously means a much larger amount of money. Richardson denied this, saying: “No pressure on us.” At the same time, he said: “The host broadcasters are very supportive of the change.”
A BCCI member reacted with a hint of sarcasm. “This is the third time since 2009 they (ICC) are trying to write off the Champions Trophy.” The Kolkata conclave also rubber-stamped the introduction of the nine-team Test league and a 13-team ODI league from 2019 and 2020 respectively. This has been done to safeguard the interests of the longer formats and offer a greater context to Test series and ODI fixtures. Against this backdrop, the plan to scrap the 2021 Champions Trophy in favour of a World T20 appears contradictory. Richardson begged to differ.
“I don’t agree with that it’s contradictory. In the end we are going to end up with a maximum of 12 Test teams. In ODIs, probably in the region of 35-40 countries will play 50 overs cricket in their country. Then the balance will all play T20s. So the amount of cricket that we play and the global events should be reflective of that balance. “Of course the 50-over World Cup will continue to be one of our huge events. We certainly do not want to take anything away from that event happening once in four years. Whether it remains a 10-team event or not that’s for future to decide.
“The champions Trophy in a way was too similar to the World Cup; always quite difficult to differentiate… Why are you having a World Cup and then a Champions Trophy? It was difficult. And don’t forget the 13-team ODI league is a huge step in making sure the ODI format has much more context going forward,” the ICC chief executive said.
The ICC release said the members have “signed off” a new FTP, incorporating a World Test Championship and “an additional ICC World T20 event in place of the Champions Trophy in 2021”.