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World Cup impossible, BCB to bid for Champions Trophy

15 Jun 2021 21:49:54 | Update: 15 Jun 2021 21:51:22
World Cup impossible, BCB to bid for Champions Trophy
Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan speaks to reporters on Tuesday.- BCB photo

Shams Rahman

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hassan said on Tuesday that it is impossible for Bangladesh to solely host either of Men’s ODI World Cup or T20 World Cup but mentioned that they will be bidding to host the Champions Trophy in the 2024-2031 cycle.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on June announced their 2024-2031 cycle, which included two Men’s ODI World Cups in 2027 and 2031, and three T20 World Cups in 2026, 2028 and 2030.

Also, the ICC have brought the Champions Trophy back from the dead, which was announced to be discontinued after the 2017 edition.

The BCB President explained that a minimum of 10 venues would be required to host an ODI World Cup, which Bangladesh doesn’t have.

"To arrange the Men’s Cricket World Cup, a country needs 10 fully equipped venues. This is not possible for us. If we want to arrange T20 World Cup, that requires eight venues. That is also difficult for us," the Nazmul said on Tuesday after the BCB’s 10th annual meeting.

But the BCB President confirmed that they will be trying to host the Champions Trophy, which only requires three venues.

"We qualify for arranging the Champions Trophy. We have decided that we will bid for hosting the Champions Trophy individually," he said.

Despite Bangladesh not qualifying to host the World Cup on their own, the BCB President is not losing hope on hosting the tournament. Nazmul informed the media that they will try to co-host the World Cup with other nations in the sub-continent.

"We will submit a joint bid to arrange the World Cup and T20 World Cup. We will talk to the countries from the sub-continent about it. If we submit a joint bid, there’s a high chance of us getting to host these tournaments. We will talk to Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India. We have a small window of opportunity, so we will have to act fast on it," said the BCB President.

Even though BCB is considering India as an option for a joint bid, it’s unlikely that the neighbouring country will be interested considering that will be hosting the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup all by themselves.

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