Former Australian batsman Michael Hussey has strongly suggested that the upcoming men’s T20 World Cup shouldn’t be staged in India.
The 45-year-old further stated that UAE must be considered as a replacement option to host the event, which is scheduled in October-November later this year.
"I think they'll have to look at some pretty big contingency plans, perhaps looking at the UAE or somewhere like that that could host the World T20,” Hussey told Fox Cricket upon his return to Sydney, where he is currently at a quarantine facility.
"I think it's going to be very difficult in my view to play that tournament in India."
Hussey was one of the three members of the Chennai team to have contracted the virus during the Indian T20 league, which came to halt earlier this month. He had to spend two weeks in isolation before leaving India.
"We're talking about eight teams in the Indian T20 League. I think there are probably similar numbers, maybe more teams coming in from overseas (for the T20 World Cup), there'd be more venues. As I said earlier, if they're playing in different cities, that is when the risk goes up,” the Chennai batting coach further added.
After the Indian T20 league got postponed, several foreign players and other professionals found it difficult to leave the country, owing to various travel restrictions imposed by their respective nations.
While the South African government welcomed their players, the Australian government laid some stringent policies, forcing their players to quarantine in the Maldives before reaching their final destination.
Hussey believes going ahead, teams will be wary of travelling to India. “I think there will be a lot of cricket boards around the world that'd be pretty nervous about going back to India for a cricket tournament,” the Australian said.
India is currently fighting a devastating second wave of COVID-19 but has initiated a mass vaccination drive to inoculate its 1.2 billion population.
Featured photo: AFP / Indranil Mukherjee
