MCC president Kumar Sangakkara opines on the chances of the 2020 T20 World Cup taking place this year

Kumar Sangakkara, the president of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), recently expressed his views on whether the T20 World Cup in Australia should be postponed or not. The coronavirus pandemic has put all sorts of doubts regarding hosting the mega event. A couple of days, reports of the tournament getting deferred also did the rounds, but nothing official has come to the fore.

The ICC meeting also took place on Thursday, May 28 where a decision surrounding the fate of the event was to be taken. For Sangakkara, who’s also a legendary Sri Lankan cricketer, the future with the virus seems to be a crucial factor. The veteran said that lifestyle people have adopted due to the COVID-19 could become the new norm until there’s a vaccine.

Everyday, there are new learnings: Kumar Sangakkara

“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?

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,” Sangakkara was quoted as saying on Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected.

Sangakkara said that it’s tough to take a decision at the present point in time since they have to encounter “new learnings” on most days. But the southpaw has also put forth the importance of precautionary measures, bearing in mind the health of the players and other staff members.

“So, I can imagine sitting around a table for the ICC, trying to understand, consulting with experts to understand what’s going on. Everyday, there are new learnings, 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 people,” he added.

Cricket Australia (CA) recently released their entire schedule for the summer, starting August 2020 to February 2021. In the itinerary, they also included the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to take place from October 18 to November 15.

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