South Africa's Andile Phehlukwayo hopes T20 World Cup 2020 goes ahead as planned

While the uncertainity around the staging of International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup later this year continues, South African all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo remains hopeful that the showpiece event in Australia will go ahead as per the schedule.

The 2020 T20 World Cup is slated to take place from October 18 to November 15 across various venues in Australia. However, travel restrictions due to coronavirus pandemic have put the event under cloud.

Reflecting on the same, Phehlukwayo said that he is still optimistic that the World Cup will happen as per the schedule.

"On a personal note, I'm very optimistic that the World Cup does still happen. I want this tournament to happen, especially after we've all had a year like this. This (tournament) could be seen as a reward for us to compete and for people to watch a really competitive tournament," Sport24 quoted Phehlukwayo as saying.

The 24-year-old from Durban, however, added that he will truly understand even if the tournament gets cancelled due to safety measures amid coronavirus crises.

"If it doesn't happen because of safety measures, I'll understand as it's a serious thing that shouldn't be taken lightly. So many people's lives have been taken away from this virus,"Phehlukwayo stated.

Earlier, Cricket Australia chairperson Earl Eddings had said that staging of T20 World Cup this year is "unrealistic".

Australia have had success in containing the pandemic, with just over 7,000 cases of COVID-19 in the country.

Notably, the coronavirus pandemic had brought all the international cricketing activities around the world at halt following the first ODI between Australia and New Zealand on March 13.

However, the international cricket is all set tot return with a three-match Test series between England and West Indies from July 8.