India ready to host some of Bangladesh's World T20 matches

Jagmohan Dalmiya: ready to help

Kolkata, July 4 (IANS) The Indian cricket board has given a guarantee that it would host some games of the ICC World Twenty20 championship if organisers Bangladesh fail to ready two of the four proposed venues by the August deadline set by the International Cricket Council.

“We are ready to hold some of the games. We have given a guarantee that we will have some stand-by venues to help Bangladesh in such a situation,” Board of Control for Cricket in India’s interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya told media persons Thursday, a day after returning home after attending the ICC annual conference in London.

Dissatisfied over the pace of work at the two proposed staging centres – Cox’s Bazar and Sylhet, the ICC’s International Development (IDI) board has decided to carry out another inspection of the venues in August after which it would take the final call on the issue.

ICC rules mandate that venues for its tournaments should be ready six months ahead of the competition.

The tournament is slated to be played between March 16 and April 6 next year.

Calling it a “difficult situation”, Dalmiya said: “We will definitely be there to help them if they inform us six months in advance.”

With India slated to host the World T20 in 2016, the second World Test Championship in 2021 and the World Cup in 2023, Dalmiya said: “We have got the major share of the cake. We will play a major role in global events from 2016-2023. The credit goes to the BCCI.”

India scored a major victory in the recent ICC annual conference with the apex governing body of the game maintaining status quo on the Decision Review System, but Dalmiya contended that the BCCI had not “bulldozed anybody”.

“Our major point was DRS is not 100 percent foolproof, and so there is little reason to discuss it. The ICC decided to maintain status quo – that is it will be in force in only bilateral series when both teams agree.”