Bring teams in chartered flights, test them for coronavirus but don’t cancel WT20: Brad Hogg

Melbourne, April 16: Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg feels his country should go all out to ensure that the T20 World Cup is held as scheduled this year even if it means bringing in teams a month in advance in chartered flights and testing all participating players for coronavirus. The deadly COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 1,20,000 people globally and placed countries under lockdown, has cast a shadow over the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia from October 18 to November 15.

Hogg said he is against the idea of a cancellation or postponement, and the organisers will have to take some proactive decisions to ensure the event’s smooth conduct. “There is a lot of talk that the T20 World Cup in Australia could be cancelled or rescheduled to a later date. I don’t like that…But there are a few issues which we got to address,” the 49-year-old said in a video posted on his twitter handle. “A lot of players have been in lockdown. They haven’t been able to go out, train and prepare for a tournament such as the T20 World Cup. So we got to get them here a month, a month-in-a-half earlier that what we would do in a normal situation,” he said.