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Pakistan not ?on Board? for joint World Cup
Indian cricket board president Ranbir Singh Mahendra said on Wednesday that his organisation wanted to bid for the 2011 cricket World Cup independently.
Indian cricket board president Ranbir Singh Mahendra said on Wednesday that his organisation wanted to bid for the 2011 cricket World Cup independently.
Mahendra said the Board of Control for Cricket in India wanted a situation where it could bid independently but noted that the compulsions of the Asian Cricket Committee could compel it to mount a bid with Pakistan. “To say a direct yes or no at this stage would be premature, but it was the thinking in the BCCI that we can hold it on our own,” Mahendra told reporters here.
The Pakistan Cricket Board recently expressed its desire to bid with India for the biggest cricketing extravaganza that is held every four years.The 2007 World Cup will be held in the West Indies. Pakistan and India had jointly held two World Cups — in 1987 and 1996. Sri Lanka too was a co-host with them in 1996.”
The present government had agreed to give tax exemption to such a big event and we want to make the most of it. We will definitely bid for it,” Mahendra said.India will host the Champions Trophy in cricket — considered a mini World Cup — in 2006. Mahendra said the BCCI did not want any confrontation with state governments over state cricket associations.
“But if they try to take over these bodies through legislation, we have geared ourselves to respond with counter measures,” he said. These measures could include not giving matches to state associations and cutting their grants and subsidies. Mahendra said the BCCI had not liked the way in which some state cricket associations affiliated with it were being treated.
Regarding demands for a bowling coach for the Indian team, he said the proposal was under consideration and if coach Greg Chappell wanted one, the team would get a coach. Mahendra said Sachin Tendulkar still had cricket left in him. “For me he is okay and will play in the future,” he remarked.
