By IANS,
Mumbai : The Twenty20 Champions League has been postponed following the terror strikes in the city here Wednesday night.
A top official of the Champions League Organising Committee told IANS Thursday that Chairman Lalit Modi is expected to announce the postponement of the event later in the day. Mumbai is one of the three venues of the tournament scheduled to kick-off Dec 3.
The officials from various countries associated with the inaugural Champions League were billeted in the two hotels seized by the terrorists, Taj and Trident, and they were a witness to the late night drama.
The traumatised officials this morning gave graphic description of the night-long happenings at an emergency meeting of the organising committee. Thereafter it was decided to postpone the event.
The meeting also took into account the cyclonic conditions affecting the other two venues of the Champions League, Chennai and Bangalore. It has been raining for almost a week in the southern parts of the country.
Teams from England, Australia, South Africa and Pakistan were expected to arrive by this weekend to take part in the eight-team tournament.
Earlier in the day, the visiting England cricket team decided not to go ahead with the remaining two games of the seven-match Hero Honda limited-overs series and fly back home.
It is not clear whether the team would return next month to play the two Tests to be played in Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
An Indian cricket board official said no decision has been taken on the Tests. Asked whether there was a possibility of shifting the two Test from Mumbai, he said the issue would come up for discussion only after hearing from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).