Dublin, May 11 (IANS): Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie has a strong "gut feeling" that this year's T20 World Cup in Australia will not take place due to the global COVID-19 crisis.

"I'd be worried the tournament wouldn't go ahead," Balbirnie told BBC Radio Ulster's Sportsound Extra Time.

"You have to look at it logistically -- there would be 16 teams flying into the country.

"The way this pandemic has panned out, a lot can happen in a couple of days, so we really don't know yet. It's tricky, but we're battling on."

He also said the lack of match practice will be an issue.

"It's going to be a unique situation," said the batsman.

"There won't have been any international cricket this summer at all, so there will be a lot of people going in undercooked.

"When we get back training, we will have to be really specific as to what we want to do."

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is still confident of hosting the T20 World Cup slated to be held in Australia in October-November.

Speaking to IANS, an ICC official kept it short and said that no meeting has taken place between the international body and Cricket Australia over the last week and contingency planning continues.