Mumbai, Apr 4: Debunking media reports that the World Cup awarded to India with much fanfare on Saturday was a fake, the International Cricket Council today said that the trophy that was handed to Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team was a "real one" and not a "replica".
ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat also explained that the other Cup that was with the Mumbai Customs was in fact, the "replica" or the "perpetual trophy" for promoting the mega event and was not needed on the final day of the World Cup.
"It is very disappointing that media reports do not represent the fact. I have spoken about match fixing at Ahmedabad and now it is disappointing to know about the trophy. India got the trophy which was intended to be delivered to them," Lorgat told a media conference here.
"Since the 2003 World Cup, we have two trophies. One is the replica which is used for promotional purposes and that perpetual trophy has been going in and out of India for the last six weeks and it is going back to Dubai.
"We had the real trophy on the field of play on Saturday and that is the trophy that was given to the Indian team," he added.
Media reports today said that the Cup handed to Team India by ICC chief Sharad Pawar was a fake and that the original one was lying with the customs in Mumbai over non-payment of duties, but Lorgat dismissed them as "disappointing" and untrue.
"You can draw your own conclusions why such things are coming out on the back of a very successful World Cup," he added.
Lorgat said the ICC Executive Board, at its meeting today, reaffirmed an earlier decision to cut down the number of teams in the 2015 tournament, to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, making it a 10-team affair.
According to the top ICC official, the format of the 2015 World Cup could be similar to the 1992 edition which too was fought among ten teams in a round-robin-cum-knock-out (semifinal onwards).
"The Executive Board will take a final decision on the format when it meets in October, but it has reconfirmed that it will be a 10-team competition, a reduction from the current 14 teams," he said.
"The 1992 tournament (also co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand and won by Pakistan) was a 10-team tournament and we may replicate that," he said.
Lorgat said the ICC will review the ticketing procedures which had created a lot of criticism in the just-concluded edition.
Tickets were reportedly sold at a premium in the black market on a number of occasions and Lorgat said these things are to be condemned.
"We do not condone such behaviour. We will conduct proper investigation and if any action needed to be taken it will be done," he said.
Lorgat also said that the introduction of the much talked-about Decision Review System (DRS) in the mega-event proved to be a successful one.
"DRS was successful. It has improved umpiring standards by more than five per cent. There has been no blatant errors or no complaints from teams over decision that could have affected the outcome of the match. PTI
