"Delhi may lose World T20 matches" : Anurag Thakur

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur on Sunday warned the Delhi and District Cricket Association over the possibility of losing the hosting rights of World T20 matches next year.

“We have to wait and watch till November 17 if Delhi is ready or not for the Test. If Delhi fails to stage the Test, the venue may also lose the World T20 matches,” Thakur said

The three-member panel set up by the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to probe the irregularities in Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) made the situation more tense for the association by not filing its report on Saturday.

DDCA President Sneh Prakash Bansal sounded optimistic about the outcome and is keeping his fingers crossed for the game scheduled to be held at the Feroz Shah Kotla. “Meetings are taking place. Let’s hope that everything falls into place. We are all working towards it,” he said.

The bone of contention remains the Rs 24.45 crore in entertainment tax slapped by the government on the state body. The entertainment tax is said to have been unpaid since 2012 and the DDCA is hoping to get a tax waiver for the same. The BCCI has already kept Pune as a backup venue in case the DDCA fails to meet the deadline for the game starting December 3.