Bangladesh may lose the privilege of hosting the ICC Twenty20 World Cup next year due to being behind schedule in preparing a couple of venues. Both the under-construction stadium in Cox’s Bazar and the under-renovation the Sylhet Divisional Stadium failed to meet ICC deadlines on September 30 and then October 30.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board at its meeting in London earlier this month extended the granted an extension to November 30 but newly elected Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan doubted that the stadiums would be ready by that date.
The BCB boss blamed the National Sports Council (NSC) for missing the deadlines and slow work. “We were supposed to have the work at the Sylhet stadium finished by 30 September but unfortunately we couldn’t, so they (ICC) gave us extension till October30th. NSC (National Sports Council) is doing the stadium on governmental fund, so naturally there is a little problem and the works is slow and we failed to meet even the October deadline,” Nazmul told the media at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
“Unfortunately the report submitted by the inspection team was not up to the mark. They doubt if the work will finish within the new deadline and feel that it will not get done by even December,” he added.
If the work is not finished by November, the situation will become more complicated, according to Nazmul. Tickets for the World T20 are supposed to go on sale from November 7 but if the venues remain unconfirmed, this will create difficulties.
“To be honest, I was not feeling good personally to ask for an extension. However, what I did manage to explain to them is that the infrastructural job is done and the finishing work is in progress. This is why I confidently told the ICC that the work will finish by November and we will be able to hand over the stadium to them. They will send the inspection team in any day between November 20 to 30,” said Nazmul.
If the venues are not ready in time, the games that were supposed to have been played in Sylhet and Cox’s Bazar are likely to be shifted to India. Nazmul said that both India and England proposed moving the matches at Sylhet to Kolkata and the Women’s World Twenty20 matches to other venues in India, but remained confident that this would not happen.
Nazmul was also concerned with the Bangladesh team’s preparation for the event. One option being considered by the BCB is to hold the third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League before the T20 World Cup to give the national team members match practice, but Nazmul was aware of the scheduling difficulties of such a move.
“We have Sri Lanka touring us after New Zealand and then there is the Asia Cup which we will host. We want BPL before the World Cup but for that to happen, we need to find a solution to the issues from the last edition of the tournament,” said Nazmul, referring to the fixing scandal which resulted in nine individuals being accused of wrong-doing.
Nazmul added that a tribunal had been formed to deal with the fixing issue. “The tribunal has been formed and the work will start any day. If we can’t get this done before December, we won’t be able to hold the tournament (BPL). And in that case, we will we have to have an alternate tournament for our T20 practice.”
