A senior BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) official has confirmed that this year's Twenty20 World Cup, originally planned to be held in India, will instead be played in the United Arab Emirates.

A top official of the Indian cricket board (BCCI) confirmed this to Reuters News Agency on Monday. 

Reasons given include the travel restrictions facing those who would attend, and the grave situation concerning Covid-19 outbreak in India at present.

India has now recorded 30.27 million covid-19 cases, of which 396,730 have since proven fatal.

Treasurer of the BCCI, Arun Singh Dhumal, explained the following to Reuters:

"We are monitoring the COVID-19 numbers in the country and there's no clarity about travel restrictions at that time".

"We will stage it there in the UAE after the conclusion of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

"We will inform the International Cricket Council soon," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) needed the BCCI to decide by 28 June if they were to host it in India, something the cricketing world thought unlikely and immoral after the rise in cases, highlighted by the suspension of the IPL in May.

The remaining IPL matches will played in the UAE as well, having already been allocated as a plan B for the most lucrative cricket tournament on the planet.