LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has set its sights on ensuring that the national men’s team play their ICC Men’s ODI World Cup matches in Chennai and Kolkata only, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported on Tuesday.
The biggest cricketing event of this year is likely to commence on October 5, featuring 46 matches, which will be played across 12 cities including Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mumbai, Rajkot, Bengaluru, Delhi, Indore, Guwahati, Hyderabad and Dharamasala.
The report further disclosed that top PCB officials approached the high-ranking International Cricket Council (ICC) executive and discussed the sensitive issue of the team’s security in the host country.
“A lot will depend on what BCCI and the Indian government decide but given a choice, Pakistan will like to play most of its World Cup matches in Kolkata and Chennai,” a source close to ICC Board told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“In Kolkata, Pakistan played its T20 World Cup game against India in 2016 and the players were very happy with the security. Similarly, Chennai as a venue remains memorable for Pakistan. It’s also about feeling safe at specific venues,” the source added.
But the most-anticipated clash of Pakistan and India can be a bone of contention.
Ahmedabad’s newly-built stadium with over 1,32,000 capacity gives ICC, the best chance to earn optimum profits but the largest stadium is already booked to host the final and thus a new venue will be considered.
Consequently, other venues, most likely Kolkatta and Chennai are in the race to host the high-voltage Pakistan-India clash.
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