India to host 22 matches of 2011 WC

Mohali, May 6 (UNI) Architech of the India-Pakistan-Sri Lanka-Bangladesh joint bid for the 2011 World Cup which will be staged in the sub-continent in February-March, Inderjit Singh Bindra said here today that 22 matches would be played in India.

Addressing a press conference here today former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Mr Bindra said that the matches would be held at the four permanent Test venues, except Kanpur and the remaining four would be other Test centres.

The matches would be played in Mohali, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.

Pakistan would organise 14 matches while nine matches have been allotted to Sri Lanka and six matches will be conducted in Bangalesh, announced Mr Bindra, who is also president of the Punjab Cricket Association. A total of 51 matches will be played in the World Cup.

''Decision on the venue of the final and other organisational related matters will be decided in the forthcoming organising committee meeting,'' he said.

In the preliminary stage, home matches will feature home teams, he said and added that this decision has ensured full houses for 22 initial matches itself in the mega event.

''The total FIFA World Cup (football) viewers world over are five billion. However, cricket viewers in the Asian countries touch 3 billion,'' Mr Bindra who is known for his organisational skills said.

Talking about the Asian bid, he said ''we made a forceful presentation before the ICC. The three-minute audio-visual was themed as cricket first. We submitted our comprehensive joint bid, backed by the government one day before the final day of submission on April 20 after seeking extension from the ICC''.

''Due to commercial property value of cricket in the Asian countries, we defeated the Australia-New Zealand joint bid. We will make 400 m dollars extra and out of it 100 m dollars would go to the associate members'', he added.

A special general body meeting of the organising committee of the 2011 World Cup will be held in Mumbai on June one to device upgrading infrastructure etc.

Replying to a question, Mr Bindra said if Bangladesh needed any assistance for hosting the matches, ''all support will be extended.

However, Bangladesh have world class cricket infrastructure, he added.

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