The T20 World Cup will now be held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman rather than India this year, the ICC has confirmed on Tuesday.
Australia was originally scheduled to host the 2020 tournament ahead of India staging it this year. However, the pandemic forced the ICC to postpone last year's tournament, giving Australia hosting rights for 2022.
A second surge in cases of coronavirus in India has now forced a major change to the 2021 competition, which will still be hosted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The ICC had asked the BCCI to decide on the feasibility of staging the tournament, with BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla saying on Monday it had opted against remaining as hosts.
October 17 remains the start date for the competition, which will end with the final on November 14.
The Dubai International Stadium, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the Sharjah Stadium, and the Oman Cricket Academy Ground will be the four World Cup venues.
The first round of the tournament, comprising of eight qualifying teams, will be split between Oman and the UAE. Four of those teams will move into the Super 12s round, joining eight automatic qualifiers.
ICC CEO Geoff Allardice said: "Our priority is to deliver the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 safely, in full and in its current window Whilst we are incredibly disappointed not to be hosting the event in India, the decision gives us the certainty we need to stage the event in a country that is a proven international host of multi-team events in a bio-secure environment.
"We will work closely with the BCCI, the Emirates Cricket Board and Oman Cricket to ensure fans can enjoy a wonderful celebration of cricket."
India has recorded over 30 million coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, the second-most in the world behind the United States. Nearly 400,000 people have died from the disease in the country.
The UAE has had nearly 629,000 cases with just over 1,800 deaths.
West Indies are the defending champions having claimed a dramatic victory over England in the 2016 final in India.