ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) continue to face flak from the state associations missing a chance to host the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup 2023 in India. Prominent associations like Punjab and Madhya Pradesh have already expressed their strong disappointment toward BCCI for not considering their historic venues for a single World Cup match.
BCCI selected ten venues Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, and Lucknow to host the mega tournament starting on October 5 and Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) and Guwahati (Assam ) to host warm-up matches. Apart from Hyderabad, the remaining nine venues will be hosting five matches each.
To calm the protesting state associations, BCCI secretary Jay Shah revealed that the venues that are missing a chance to host the ICC matches will be rewarded with bilateral series matches (ODI) this season. He added that he requested the selected venues to forego their turns to host ODI matches this season and all participating state associations supported his decision.
"During our meeting, I had proposed a solution to ensure a fair distribution of matches for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023," Shah said in the letter accessed by PTI. "I requested the hosting associations, with the exception of Assam and Kerala, who were allocated warm-up matches, to voluntarily forego their turn to host an ODI during the bilateral international season."
"This proposal was put forth in order to accommodate the state associations that unfortunately missed out on hosting matches of the Cricket World Cup. I am pleased to inform you that the proposal received unanimous agreement and support from all the participating associations."
Earlier this week, BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla also revealed that there was no political interference while selecting venues for the ICC World Cup 2023. He said that venues were selected on a rotational system and Mohali's IS Bindra Stadium failed to meet ICC's standard.
