ICC and The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released the much-awaited schedule for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 on Tuesday, June 27. Ten venues are selected to host a 46-day mega tournament starting at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on October 5.
Apart from Hyderabad, all ten venues will host five matches each with Ahmedabad hosting the crucial India-Pakistan game and final clash. However, fans were shocked to see the iconic cricket venues from Mohali and Indore being left out of staging the World Cup tournament.
State officials from Punjab and Madhya Pradesh expressed their disappointment towards BCCI for not considering historic venues for the major ICC tournament. Abhilash Khandekar, president of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, reminded the BCCI that Indore hosted the Australia-New Zealand World Cup game in 1987 and said that MPCA is feeling disappointed for not getting a single World Cup game.
"Indore hosted a World Cup game between Australia and New Zealand back in 1987. We feel bad that Indore has been left out. I don't know the compulsions of the BCCI. Indore has a rich cricketing history and therefore we expected it to be a venue of the World Cup," Khandekar told PTI.
It has been reported that the BCCI held a meeting with officials from the state association a day before releasing a schedule on Tuesday. There is no limit on venues from ICC as England had 11 different venues to host the 2019 World Cup and Australia had 14 for the 2015 ODI World Cup. An official from Punjab Cricket Association also revealed that the state association is disappointed for not even getting a practice game.
"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," a source in the Punjab Cricket Association told PTI.
