The Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI) is ready to organise the 2021 edition of the ICC T20 World Cup in India from October to November. Earlier, there were anticipations that the Pakistan Cricket Board was considering to request ICC to shift the venue from India to the United Arab Emirates as visas became a matter of concern for the Pakistani cricketers.
The PCB Chief Ehsan Mani urged ICC for a written assurance that their players would be granted visas for the T20 spectacle. He also admitted that ICC promised PCB that their players would be given visas within this month.
“I have informed the board that the BCCI was supposed to give us visa assurances by 31st December but that didn’t happen because their President, Sourav Ganguly was twice hospitalized,” Mani said at the media conference.
Kolkata to host Pakistan matches in T20 World Cup
Reportedly, the Indian government has permitted BCCI to grant the Pakistani players visas for the T20 World Cup. However, it is not clear if the fans will be allowed to travel to India and support their nation.
“The visa issue of Pakistan cricket team has been sorted. However, whether the fans can travel across the border to watch matches is still not clear. It will be decided in due course of time. However, we had promised ICC that it will be sorted. The secretary announced during the meeting,” a member of the Apex Council was quoted as saying in India Today.
According to the reports, BCCI will host Pakistan in Kolkata for their league matches due to security concerns. BCCI does not want to put the Pakistani players at risk. As a result, they will be playing all their league matches at a single venue.
The mega event will follow two-group fixtures. For the league matches, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, and two qualifying teams will be part of Group 1. India, South Africa, Afghanistan, England, and two qualifying teams will be drafted in the second Group. BCCI has selected nine venues that will host the games: Dharamshala, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Delhi, and Hyderabad have been selected as the tentative venues. The final will be played at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad.