ODI World Cup schedule to be announced during WTC Final, says BCCI secretary Jay Shah

The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah on Saturday said that the venues and schedule for the ODI World Cup slated to be held in India later this year would be announced on the sidelines of the World Test Championship (WTC) in London. India are set to play Australia in the WTC Final at The Oval in London, from 7 June. “Press conference will happen and it will happen in London around the World Test Championship final. The complete schedule for the tournament will also be revealed," Shah was quoted as saying after the BCCI SGM in Ahmedabad, as per a report in News18. “The venue list has been prepared but not finalised yet. We have kept options for three-four venues. So will be finalising them soon. Metro cities will be preferred venues and we can’t really ignore them," Shah added. There was, however, nothing on Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup. Wasim Khan, the ICC General Manager, had said in March that Pakistan could play their matches at a neutral venue. However, cricket’s global governing body denied that and as per a board official, the Narendra Modiv Stadium in Ahmedabad would host that game, with Chennai as a backup venue. “India vs Pakistan will happen. Narendra Modi Stadium is likely to host that game and Chennai is also kept as a backup for the marquee clash,” said the source. The BCCI are also aiming at improving stadium facilities. Venues like Ahmedabad and Lucknow are upto standards, but work needs to be done at some of the other venues. “There is money coming into the BCCI but facilities in some stadiums are not up to the mark. Ahmedabad, Dharamsala, Indore, Lucknow are some of the well-maintained stadiums but we need to get the other stadiums at par to these too,” said Shah. “We have also taken GT (Grant Thornton International) on board who will deal with 15 stadiums initially and after that we will expand. They have already given us report on 16 stadiums and will then address 15 more stadiums. First priority will be World Cup venues, after the list is decided, and then we will move to other venues," added Shah. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.