'ICC's consent is important' - Rajeev Shukla hits back at ‘political interference’ claims for WC 2023 venues

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has come under scrutiny after the release of the 2023 World Cup schedule. While the tournament will be hosted across ten cities, the apex board received flak for not allocating matches to several renowned Indian venues. However, BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla explained the reason behind the omission of venues like Mohali for the upcoming World Cup.

Following the announcement of the WC schedule, Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer criticised the BCCI for overlooking Mohali as one of the venues, labelling it as a political decision. Abhilash Khandekar, president of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, also expressed his disappointment after the Holkar Stadium of Indore also missed out on a World Cup fixture.

Following the criticism, Rajeev Shukla clarified the decision of leaving out Mohali as one of the potential venues. He stated that the stadium did not meet the ICC's prerequisite standards, leading to its omission. However, Shukla revealed that the venue will be allocated bilateral matches as the board does not want to starve any centre of international fixtures.

"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. 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," Shukla was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Ahmedabad will host the final of World Cup 2023

Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Lucknow, and Pune will be hosting the global event later this year. Meanwhile, Kolkata, Mumbai and Ahmedabad will be hosting some of the most eye-catching fixtures, including the knockouts and the final.