Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], June 29 : Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) president Jayesh George said on Wednesday that the Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi stadium got more matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 schedule because of its high seating capacity.
His response comes after Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor from Congress had expressed his disappointment over Thiruvananthapuram not getting any matches for the mega cricketing event.
Jayesh also said that Shashi did not "go to the facts".
"Ahmedabad Stadium has a huge capacity. Before Ahmedabad it was Eden Gardens with 60,000-70,000 capacity, so most of the matches used to go to Eden. Now because Ahmedabad is the best facility and the world's largest stadium definitely more matches will go to that side only," Jayesh said to ANI.
Tharoor said it is a long tournament and Thiruvananthapuram, Mohali and Ranchi should have been given an opportunity to hold a World Cup match.
BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla on Tuesday had clarified that assigning venues is not in the hands of BCCI purely, rather ICC's consent is very important.
Shukla's remarks came after Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer had raised objections to the exclusion of Mohali from the WC schedule.
"The exclusion of Punjab's Mohali from the list of host cities for the tournament was due to political interference. Punjab government will raise this issue with BCCI," Hayer had said.
Shukla said that this time 12 venues have been chosen for the mega cricketing event, something which has not happened before.
"For the first time, 12 venues have been chosen for World Cup. Earlier, these many venues were not chosen in previous World Cups. Out of these 12 venues, warm-up matches will be held in Trivandrum and Guwahati, remaining venues will have league matches. More centres have been accommodated. From South Zone Four venues, from central zone one venue, West Zone two, North Zone two venues. Delhi and Dharamshala will host the matches (in North Zone)," said Shukla in an exclusive interview with ANI.
Shukla said that bilateral series matches will be given to Mohali and there will be no discrimination.
"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. Bilateral series matches will be given to them, it is based on a rotational system. No 'pick and choosing' 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.
The opening match of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, featuring defending champions England and runner-up New Zealand, is set to commence on October 5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Ten teams will feature in this biggest Cricket World Cup ever, to be played across 10 venues from October 5 to November 19, with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosting the tournament opener and the final. The event will feature 48 matches to be played across 46 days.
India's World Cup campaign will begin with a match against Australia on October 8 in Chennai.
The venues other than Ahmedabad and Chennai are Bengaluru, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. while Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram will join Hyderabad in hosting the practice games.
Arch-rivals India and Pakistan will square off at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Eight teams have qualified for the 46-day event through the Cricket World Cup Super League while the final two spots will be taken by the finalists of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier taking place in Zimbabwe.
The tournament retains the round-robin format of last time with all teams playing against each other for a total of 45 league matches. There are six-day matches which will start at 10h30 Indian Standard Time (IST) while all other matches, including the knockouts, will be day-night fixtures starting at 14h00 IST.
The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals, to be played in Mumbai on 15 November and in Kolkata on 16 November. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.
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