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Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer condemns the exclusion of Mohali from the list of cities to host the ICC Cricket World Cup-2023
“The exclusion of Punjab’s Mohali from the list of host cities for the tournament was due to political interference. Punjab government… pic.twitter.com/R7RVCejMfE
— ANI (@ANI) June 27, 2023
Hayer claimed that leaving out Mohali from the World Cup venues was a very much political decision.
“It is good that World Cup is coming to India but it is sad that a stadium which has produced many superstars of Indian cricket, a stadium that used to be among the top five venues in the country, has not got a single game. On the other hand, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is hosting the opening game as well as the final and also the big game between India and Pakistan,” he said.
“To the neighbouring Dharamsala as well you are giving them five games but Punjab has not got even one. That makes it clear that politics is being played,” Hayer said.
Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh said that it was unfortunate that a city like Mohali which is renowned because of the PCA stadium and its hospitality shall not host a single match.
“The fans shall be disappointed. PCA hosted many historic matches and its exclusion from the schedule is unfortunate,” he said.
As per the schedule released by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the first match of the tournament will be played on October 5 between England and New Zealand at Ahmedabad.
The tournament’s final will also be played at Ahmedabad on November 19.
Interestingly, five matches are scheduled to be held in Dharamsala.
The PCA Stadium in Mohali, known as one of the most iconic stadiums, has been a significant venue for cricket events. It played host to the semi-finals of the 1996 and 2011 50-over World Cup tournaments held in India. The 2011 match between India and Pakistan at this ground is considered one of the biggest games in cricket history, with both teams competing for a spot in the final.
In the 2016 T20 World Cup, although the PCA Stadium didn’t host a knockout game, it did hold the highly anticipated India-Australia match, which effectively served as a virtual quarterfinal. Even though there was speculation that Mohali may be denied any match, PCA took hope from the fact that BCCI had sanctioned 79.46 crore for its renovation.
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