ODI World Cup 2023: Uproar over the venue, BCCI said – no favoritism, stadiums were selected after deliberation

India is all set for the ODI Cricket World Cup 2023. For this, 10 places have been selected from all over India. Apart from Ahmedabad, other host cities include Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Dharamshala, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Pune. Since the announcement of the schedule by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 27 June, significant controversy has erupted over the choice of venues by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the prestigious event.

 

The BCCI is being accused of favoritism in the selection of stadiums. It is also being discussed a lot on social media. Along with this, questions are also being raised from the leaders. One user wrote that Hyderabad stadium is the 4th largest cricket stadium in India with a capacity of 55000 and it is in dry plateau region, there is minimum chance of rain and no dew factor, so match will not depend on toss, I think it is better than Mumbai and Ahmedabad where dew factor plays a very important role. NK wrote that it is very unfair not to give India’s first match in Hyderabad, even on normal days tickets were sold out in an hour despite high ticket prices, Hyderabad fans were the most passionate fans, Jay Shah and BCCI needs serious clarification here.

Apart from this, Mohali and Jaipur have also not got to host the match. Regarding this, Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hair expressed his concern and said that politics might have influenced the decision-making process. He expressed his dismay that the stadium which produced many Indian cricket superstars did not get a single match. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also expressed his dismay over the exclusion of Thiruvananthapuram’s Sportshub from the World Cup matches. He remarked that Ahmedabad seems to be gaining prominence as the cricket capital of the country.

 

BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla revealed that the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali does not meet ICC standards while the work on the Mullanpur Stadium is underway. He categorically stated that the existing stadium in Mohali did not meet the standards of ICC and hence it was denied the matches. But that doesn’t mean they won’t be given matches. They will be given bilateral series matches, it is based on the rotational system. He said that no ‘pick and choose’ has been done. The ICC’s consent is crucial in finalizing the venues. The warm-up match has been hosted for the first time in Trivandrum. It is not that any centre/region has been neglected. The stadiums have been selected after a lot of thought, even matches in the North East zone have gone to Guwahati. A lot of adjustments have been made in the program.