Rajeev Shukla, the vice president of the board, responded to complaints from the Punjab Sports Minister that Mohali had been overlooked as a World Cup venue.
The schedule for the ICC World Cup 2023 was released at an ICC event in Mumbai on Tuesday. It drew harsh criticism from traditional state associations that were not given matches.
10 locations were chosen to host the 48 games of the ODI World Cup. This will take place between October 5 and November 19. The locations are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Dharamsala, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Pune.
The warm-up games will be held in Trivandrum and Guwahati. Mohali, Indore, Rajkot, Ranchi, and Nagpur are a few of the cities that might feel wronged. The most unexpected of the bunch was Mohali, a stadium that has been used for significant World Cup matches since 1996.
Indian athletes celebrate after defeating Pakistan in Mohali in 2011
Political meddling was the reason why Mohali, in the province of Punjab, was left off the list of tournament host cities.
“The Punjab government will bring up this matter with the BCCI”, according to Hayer.
There will be no discrimination, according to Shukla, and Mohali will receive bilateral series matches. Mohali received Virat Kohli’s 100th Test last season. In Mohali, work is underway to prepare Mullanpur Stadium. They would have received a World Cup match had it been prepared.
Due to the current Mohali stadium’s failure to adhere to ICC standards, matches were not permitted there. But this does not mean that they would not receive matches.
According to a rotational system, they will be given bilateral series matches. There was no “pick and choose”. Finalizing the venues requires the ICC’s approval.
Warm-up games have been offered for the first time in Trivandrum. Not that any centre or zone has been disregarded. This time, 12 venues have been selected for the massive cricket tournament, according to Shukla, which has never happened before.
“The World Cup has selected 12 locations for the first time. The World Cups before this one did not choose as many venues.”
“Trivandrum and Guwahati will host exhibition games while the other venues will host league games out of these 12 locations.”
“There are now spaces for more centers. From venues in South Zone 4, Central Zone 1, West Zone 2, and North Zone 2 venues. The matches (in the North Zone) will be held in Delhi and Dharamshala”, he added.
Shikla also discussed the addition of new locations, such as Lucknow, Guwahati, and Trivandrum.
“Lucknow has been included. The state of Uttar Pradesh was never given the opportunity to host a World Cup game.”
“Guwahati has been given a second chance. There are many additional venues from the South. Prior to choosing the final venues, there was a fair amount of thought. These venues require ICC approval.”
“We do not have sole control over it. All those raising concerns should be aware that we require ICC approval in order to select these venues”, he said.
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