Too Early to Answer Any Questions About T20 World Cup Taking Place: Kumar Sangakkara

Former Sri Lanka captain & President of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Kumar Sangakkara believes it is too early to speak about the rescheduling of the ICC T20 World Cup.

Sangakkara believes that questions linger around the coronavirus pandemic that can only be answered by the top experts in the world and that planning any tournament in the future would require taking those doubts into consideration.

“The real thing is what’s going to happen with the virus. Is it going to disappear like SARS and MERS, or is this something that’s going to come back seasonally? Will we have to live with this particular virus or different strains of it from time to time or do we have to live with it long term," Sangakkara said on Star Sports show Cricket Connected.

"If that’s the case, then some of the changes that we have seen in our lives now, may be the new normal for us for a few years until a vaccine is found or until there’s enough immunity globally among the people to withstand this.

"So, those are really questions that I don’t think anyone can answer at the moment. We will get more clarity as time goes by. So, I can imagine sitting around a table for the ICC, trying to understand, consulting with experts to understand what’s going on.

Wondering what the future holds for ?

Join @robbieuthappa & @jatinsapru tonight on #CricketConnected, as @KumarSanga2 tackles the BIG question! pic.twitter.com/7XMH3hJ0B9

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) May 30, 2020

Sangakkara said that at the moment all of the options - whether postponing the tournament, cancelling it or holding it with every possible precautionary measure in place - are on the table.

"And more so, the questions that a lot of us have in our minds have still not been answered by the top most experts in the world. Everyday, there are new learnings, new things being found out, so we will have to wait and see, but the options may be to cancel it this year, postpone it to another year, but to have in place anticipatory procedures that take into account health and safety of both the players and the spectators, and make sure that’s iron clad.”

Cricket Australia boss Kevin Roberts had recently downplayed the prospect of the Twenty20 World Cup going ahead in 2020, saying the October-November schedule was under “very high risk” due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Should the tournament be cancelled, the BCCI would likely hold the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in that window as the cash-rich franchise league also had to be postponed due to the pandemic.