BCCI SGM ends, Asia Cup future undecided, World Cup schedule to be announced during WTC Final

BCCI SGM LIVE: The BCCI SGM has ended and quite a few decisions has been undertaken. The fate of the upcoming Asia Cup continues to hand in balance as its future remains undecided. On the other hand, as far as the World Cup Schedule is concerned, those will announced when India take on Australia in the much anticipated World Test Championship Finals. Follow India Cricket Live Updates on InsideSport.IN.

“The venues for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 will be decided at a press conference during the ICC World Test Championship Final. The complete schedule for the tournament will also be revealed,” Jay Shah said.

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“The future of the Asia Cup 2023 will be decided once we have a meeting with the ACC members (Test-playing nations) and the Associate nations,” Shah added.

The BCCI secretary informed that 15 stadiums have been shortlisted for improvement in basic facilities for the fans, keeping them in mind and more stadiums will be added at a later stage. Grant Thornton has been given the task for this purpose.

BCCI has asked for assurance on Pakistan’s travel to India for the World Cup 2023 in October. The situation will be discussed at length on Saturday before the SGM. If everything goes well, Pakistan can breathe a sigh of relief as formal approval is likely. After a discussion with the ICC, the list of final venues and World Cup 2023 Schedule are expected next month.

The BCCI will also be announcing specific committees in a week’s time, which will handle the 2023 World Cup in India and the Women’s Premier League, along with a committee to draft the POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) policy.

Shah informed, “As far as the venues for the ICC Cricket World Cup are concerned, each office-bearer will be responsible for each venue. We are looking at all the metros as venues for the tournament.”

“We will create a committee to structure the POSH policy. The draft is ready, it will be presented before the AGM for ratification and necessary approvals,” he added.

Additionally, the proposed limited-overs series between India and Afghanistan will be held before the World Cup, but the dates and venues are yet to be worked out.

“There are a lot of things to discuss. Even though Asia Cup is not part of the agenda officially, the situation will be deliberated. SLC, ACB and BCB officials will be there and the secretary will have a discussion on that after the SGM. World Cup is also an important topic as we do not have long for the tournament. The stadiums are in need of a revamp and we expect the work to begin soon,” a senior BCCI official told InsideSport before the meeting.

BCCI SGM: Five-point agenda

Formation of Infrastructure development and subsidy committee.
Guidelines for appointments of Physiotherapists and Trainers in state teams.
Formation of Working Group for ICC World Cup 2023.
Formation of committee of Women’s Premier League.
Ratification of Prevention of Sexual Harassment Policy.

BCCI Media Rights:

The other unofficial point to be discussed is BCCI media rights. The tender for rights of India cricket home series will be floated next month. At the SGM, a final decision will be made on the duration of the deal whether it will be for four years or five years. While the rights will be split into digital and TV rights separately, a formal decision is also expected on the same.

“There is no final decision on the duration. But the idea is to have it for 5 years similar to IPL. As for TV and digital, yes, it will be separately sold,” the official said.

The Indian board is playing a wait-and-see approach on the Sony-Zee merger. As a merger is likely to garner more attention to the deal than before. The other option is to a freebie for Disney-Star as they have already demanded a refund due to Covid-19 pandemic. Many home series had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.

However, there is the matter of a temporary broadcast rights deal for India vs Afghanistan ODI series. While BCCI wanted a temporary broadcaster for the three-match ODI series in June, the series itself is in jeopardy for players’ workload management. Hence, a final decision is expected on that at the SGM. BCCI officials will meet Afghanistan Cricket chief Mirwais Ashraf in Ahmedabad.

There are talks if the series can be converted into T20 from ODI to honour the deal with Afghanistan. However, a final decision is expected on that at the SGM.

Other than men’s cricket, a separate working group for Women’s Premier League is expected to be formed. The first edition of WPL was headed by IPL Governing Council chairman Arun Dhumal. But now, there could be a separate governing council for WPL. Apart from that, BCCI is set to formally ratify the sexual harassment policy.

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