Cricket World Cup schedule: Rajeev Shukla denies ‘political interference’ with venue allocation

With the ICC World Cup 2023 schedule announced on Tuesday, some of the non-traditional centres have been allocated matches as the tournament saw wider reach than before. 10 venues – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Dharamsala, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Pune – will host the 48 matches of the ODI World Cup to be played between October 5 and November 19.

But some of the traditional venues in Mohali, Indore, Rajkot, Ranchi and Nagpur have missed out even as Trivandrum and Guwahati have been given the nod for the warm-up matches.

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Mohali’s absence from the complete schedule has been the most surprising. The Punjab-based venue has hosted matches since 1996 and Indore hosted a World Cup fixture in 1987. It has led to some questioning if there is political interference.

Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer questioned Ahmedabad getting the tournament opener, the final and the big-ticket India vs Pakistan game. He also disputed Dharamsala being allocated five World Cup matches.

In response, BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla said, “Virat Kohli’s 100th Test last year was given to Mohali. Mullanpur Stadium is getting ready in Mohali. Had it been ready, they would have got a World Cup match. The current stadium in Mohali did not meet the standards of ICC and hence was denied matches. But that does not matches would not be given to them,” he told ANI.

“Bilateral series matches will be given to them, it is based on a rotational system. No ‘pick and choose’ has been done. ICC’s consent is important in finalising the venues.”

“In Trivandrum, warm-up matches have been given, for the first time. It is not that any centre/zone has been ignored. Stadiums have been chosen after a lot of consideration, even in North East Zone, Guwahati got the matches. A lot of accommodation has been done in the schedule,” he added.

12 venues have been chosen for the World Cup for the first time. Shukla spoke about the inclusion of new venues like Lucknow, Guwahati and Trivandrum. “Lucknow has been added. Uttar Pradesh never got a chance to host a World Cup match. Guwahati has been given a chance. Many venues from the South have been added. A fair amount of consideration was given before venues were finalised. ICC has to approve these venues. It is not purely in our hands. All those raising objections should realise that we need consent from ICC to pick up these venues,” he said.

The World Cup will get underway on October 5 with defending champions England taking on last edition’s runners-up New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. India will get their campaign underway on October 8 against Australia in Chennai.

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