ICC postpones Mens T20 World Qualifiers, Due to restrictions places by countries to tackle the surge in new COVID-19 cases
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday, 18th March, announced that three ICC men’s T20 World Cup qualifiers in Africa and Asia — pathway tournaments to the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia — have been postponed due to COVID-19.
According to a report by ANI, the Asia A qualifier which was just two steps away from the men’s T20 World Cup 2022 was due to be hosted between April 3 and April 9 involving Bahrain, Kuwait, Maldives, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. It has now been postponed and will be played in Kuwait between October 23 and 29.
This unprecedented move was taken by a committee from ICC by looking at the current rise in COVID-19 cases. According to a source ICC said, “The decision is taken to postpone men’s T20 World Cup 2022 qualifies due to new restrictions being put in place by several participating countries to suspend sporting activities to limit the spread of the new COVID-19 variants, therefore, giving no opportunity for teams to sufficiently train. The other contributing factor was the extensive quarantine requirements for the visiting teams on their return to their respective countries.”
Meanwhile, Bhutan, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Thailand were confirmed to participate in the Division 2 event. Oman and Singapore have now been promoted to the U19 Men’s CWC Asia Qualifier scheduled in September in the United Arab Emirates.
