Punjab sports minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer has written to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief Roger Binny registering his protest against the exclusion of Mohali from the list of host cities for the 2023 ICC World Cup.
The minister said as per the schedule released by ICC for the upcoming World Cup, to be held in October and November, Punjab has been allotted no match, which belies completely the sense of fair play.
“This anomaly needs to be rectified at the earliest and it would be in the interest of justice to allot a few encounters to Punjab and not leave it in the lurch,” he wrote on Friday. He also wrote a similar letter to BCCI secretary Jay Shah.
Referring to BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla’s statement that the PCA Stadium, Mohali, does not meet the ICC criteria to hold the match, the minister said that in terms of sporting infrastructure, IS Bindra Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium at Mohali has rubbed shoulders with the best in the world and has the distinction of hosting two World Cup semifinals ties—one in 1996 Wills World Cup between Australia and West Indies and the other in 2011 between Indian and Pakistan.
“I want to know the ICC criteria based on which Mohali was considered ineligible for the matches. Apart from this, any change made in the norms at present should also be brought to light as the India-Australia International T20 match was played in September 2022,” he wrote. He also sought to know whether the ICC team visited the Mohali Stadium to inspect the shortcomings.
{{/usCountry}}“I want to know the ICC criteria based on which Mohali was considered ineligible for the matches. Apart from this, any change made in the norms at present should also be brought to light as the India-Australia International T20 match was played in September 2022,” he wrote. He also sought to know whether the ICC team visited the Mohali Stadium to inspect the shortcomings.
{{/usCountry}}The AAP minister had also condemned the exclusion of Mohali on Tuesday, the day the ICC announced ODI World Cup fixtures. Calling the decision to exclude Mohali ‘discrimination’, he said it was motivated by political reasons.