BCCI accused of Political Interference in World Cup 2023 Schedule & Venues, Vice-President responds

World Cup 2023 Schedule: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was caught off-guard after the ICC World Cup 2023 Schedule & Venues were announced by the ICC on 27th June. The cricket board attracted heavy backlash and criticism from traditional cricket associations which were denied World Cup 2023 matches.

As per the announced schedule, the BCCI shortlisted 12 venues across India to host the World Cup 2023 games. The list included - Ahmedabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Guwahati, Dharmshala, Trivandrum and Lucknow.

However, the notable absentees from the list were Mohali, Indore, Rajkot, Ranchi, Jaipur and Nagpur. Despite having a decent infrastructure and rich history of hosting marquee tournament matches, these aforementioned venues were left out by the BCCI.

Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer has directed strong criticism at the BCCI after Mohali's IS Bindra Stadium was denied to host the World Cup 2023 game. He said the move to exclude Mohali seems to be highly politically motivated.

"The exclusion of Punjab's Mohali from the list of host cities for the tournament was due to political interference. Punjab government will raise this issue with BCCI," Hayer had said.

A source in the PCA revealed that they pushed hard to get World Cup 2023 matches but all the efforts went in vain.

?It seems only metros and cities where the office bearers are from have got games. We pushed for it really hard but could not get a game. Disappointing not to get even a practice game,? said a source in the Punjab Cricket Association which has been hosting World Cup games since 1996.

Mohali didn't meet ICC standards for World Cup 2023: Shukla

However, responding to the criticism BCCI is receiving for excluding certain venues, Rajiv Shukla, the BCCI vice-president, said Mohali didn't meet ICC standards to host the World Cup 2023 matches.

"The current stadium in Mohali did not meet the standards of ICC and hence was denied matches," said Rajiv Shukla. "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."

He, however, assured that Mohali will be awarded bilateral matches in upcoming India home fixtures. It's purely on the rotational basis of the venues.

"But that does not mean matches would not be given to them. Bilateral series matches will be given to them, it is based on a rotational system," he said.

To further clarify the exclusion of certain venues, Shukla mentioned that ICC's consent is required to lock a venue for World Cup and it requires certain checks to verify stadium standards.

"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."

Trivandram's Greenfield International Stadium and Guwahati's Assam Cricket Association Stadium along with Hyderabad have been picked to host the warm-up matches of the World Cup 2023.

"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. From South Zone Four venues, from central zone one venues, West Zone Two, and North Zone two venues. Delhi and Dharamshala will host the matches (In North Zone)," he added.

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For more details head to BCCI's official website.