The International Cricket Council (ICC) had recently announced the fixture for the upcoming ODI World Cup, starting October 5 in India as per which many 10 venues – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Dharamsala, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Pune – have been shortlisted by the BCCI to stage the 48 games of the showpiece tournament.
Meanwhile, Trivandrum and Guwahati will host warm-up games.
However, BCCI’s decision didn’t go down well with some of the state associations, who were left disappointed for not getting to host even a single world cup game and one of them is Punjab Cricket Association (PCA).
Notably, Mohali’s IS Bindra PCA stadium has been a historical venue. It has been hosting world cup games since 1996 but the exclusion has led to strong reactions from the officials of the PCA and even the state sports minister had criticised the BCCI for leaving out Mohali this time.
Reacting to the exclusion, BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla has now revealed why PCA didn’t get to host a game.
“Virat Kohli’s 100th Test last year was given to Mohali. Mullanpur Stadium is getting ready in Mohali. Had it been ready, they would have got a World Cup match. The current stadium in Mohali did not meet the standards of the ICC and hence was denied matches. But that does not mean that matches would not be given to them,” Shukla told ANI.
“Bilateral series matches will be given to them; it is based on a rotational system. No ‘pick and choose’ has been done. ICC’s consent is important in finalising the venues. In Trivandrum, warm-up matches have been given, for the first time. It is not that any centre/zone has been ignored. Stadiums have been chosen after a lot of consideration, even in North East Zone, Guwahati got the matches. A lot of accommodation has been done in the schedule,” he added.
Shukla said that a total of 12 venues across the nation have been selected for the showpiece event this time, something which has not happened earlier.
“For the first time, 12 venues have been chosen for World Cup. Earlier, these many venues were not chosen in previous World Cups. Out of these 12 venues, warm-up matches will be held in Trivandrum and Guwahati, remaining venues will have league matches. More centres have been accommodated. Four venues from South Zone, one from the central zone, two from West Zone, and North Zone got two venues,” he added.
Shukla also talked about the addition of new venues like Lucknow, Guwahati and Trivandrum.
“Lucknow has been added. Uttar Pradesh never got a chance to host a World Cup match. Guwahati has been given a chance. Many venues from the South have been added. A fair amount of consideration was given before venues were finalised. ICC has to approve these venues. It is not purely in our hands. All those raising objections should realise that we need consent from ICC to pick up these venues,” he concluded.