This year's Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, which was scheduled to begin in Australia on October 18, has been postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the sport's governing International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Monday.

"At today’s meeting ... windows for the next three ICC men’s events were also agreed to bring clarity to the calendar and give the sport the best possible opportunity," the ICC said in a statement after a meeting of its commercial subsidiary IBC.

Accordingly, there will be back-to-back men's Twenty20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022 before the 50-overs World Cup in India in 2023.

"The decision ... was taken after careful consideration of all of the options available to us and gives us the best possible opportunity of delivering two safe and successful T20 World Cups for fans around the world," ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney said.

"Our Members now have the clarity they need around event windows to enable them to reschedule lost bilateral and domestic cricket," he said.

The ICC would also continue to evaluate the situation ahead of the women’s World Cup 2021 in New Zealand, it added. (Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by Alison Williams and Ken ferris)