Short format, long wait for pandemic-affected T20 World Cup
RIZWAN ALI
AP Sports Writer
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The pandemic-affected Twenty20 World Cup will finally kick off in two gulf countries on Sunday with no clear favorite for the title. The tournament was scrapped last year during the global sports lockdown and then delayed again earlier this year and relocated to the United Arab Emirates and Oman because of surging COVID-19 cases in India. Perhaps India got the best of the preparations on the slow pitches in the UAE because it hosted the second half of its domestic domestic T20 league — the IPL — in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. But Pakistan also has experience playing ‘home’ games in the gulf and the IPL’s many international stars also will take experience back to their national teams.