The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Tuesday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman will be hosting the Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. The tournament is set to take place from October 17 to November 14. The tournament was initially planned to be held in India. But due to COVID-19 pandemic issues in the country, the venue was changed.

Although India will not be hosting the world cup, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) remains to be the host of the event. The world cup will be held across four venues: the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Dubai International Stadium, Sharjah Stadium, and the Oman Cricket Academy Ground.

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The first round of the world cup comprises eight qualifying teams. Four of these teams will qualify for the Super 12s round, where they will join the top eight automatic qualifiers. The upcoming edition will be the first since the Men’s T20 World Cup 2016, which was held in India.

The eight teams in the preliminary stage are Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Namibia. “Our priority is to deliver the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 safely, in full and in its current window”, told Geoff Allardice, the acting CEO of the ICC, to the official ICC website. 

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“Whilst we are incredibly disappointed not to be hosting the event in India, the decision gives us the certainty we need to stage the event in a country that is a proven international host of multi-team events in a bio-secure environment”, added Allardice.