Reports: Venues for 2016 T20I World Cup yet to be decided
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not yet finalised on the eight venues for the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty20 World Cup to be held in India during the months of February and March 2016, according to a report on The Times of India.
The delay in deciding the final eight stadiums to host matches is reportedly due to doubts regarding the number of matches the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai has to host. It is, however, BCCI President Shashank Manohar who has to both pick the venues as well as approve the venues as the ICC Chairman.
Chennai has been host to many domestic, international and Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, but the fact that the renovation of three big stands at Chepauk has been halted because of restrictions from the local civil authorities is the main cause for the delay in finalising the T20 venues.
Chepauk last hosted the fourth ODI between India and South Africa on October 22 which India won by 35 runs.
Earlier, the MA Chidambaram Stadium was expected to host three matches in the T20 World Cup. Following the continued stop to the stadium repair activities, the BCCI is mulling on granting just one match to be hosted by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association.
“Of the three matches, they might now get to host only one. That's probably the reason why the venues haven't been finalised yet,” a source stated following the Annual General Meeting of the BCCI that was held on Monday.
Another source, on the other hand, said that there was no delay in deciding the venues and that the BCCI would come to a decision at the earliest.
Currently, India are sixth in the ICC T20I Rankings which is led by defending champions, Sri Lanka. India lost the three-match T20 series against fourth-placed South Africa 2-0 after the third T20I was washed out.
The BCCI also announced six new venues that will host Test cricket – Dharamsala, Indore, Pune, Rajkot, Ranchi and Vishakapatnam. "We (BCCI) are going to have about 12 Test matches in India next year and each stadium has all the facilities of hosting international games," BCCI President Shashank Manohar said.
If the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) are not able to fix the mess they are in on time, Pune could be handed the privilege to host the fourth Test between India and Sri Lanka.