BCCI has not ruled out Chennai as World T20 venue, says Thakur

Mumbai: The M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai faces certain problems ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 next year, but the BCCI has not yet ruled out the ground as one of the venues for the biennial event. “We held a detailed discussion today. There were certain centres which were given deadlines of August 25 to submit completion reports and we are still waiting for their certificates. Yes, in Chennai there was some problem. We had been keeping it pending,” said BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur here today. [caption id=“attachment_2514506” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Anurag Thakur. AFP[/caption] He talked to reporters after a BCCI meeting to take stock of the preparations for the mega event commencing on March 11, 2016. “We have not ruled out Chennai. The only issue is which matches can be played in Chennai. There are certain limitations - can’t play Sri Lanka there, three stands are not complete and you can’t keep Indian fans away from those stands,” said the BCCI secretary. “I think that situation won’t arise,” he said when asked whether the BCCI had any standby venue in consideration. Kolkata is set to host the final on April 3. “There are many things to be considered before allocating matches to any venue. We all know what are the limitations, which teams can’t play in which centres. That’s why today’s meeting was held to find out which are the right venues and how we can organise a successful World Cup in 2016 in India,” the BCCI secretary said. “There’s no new course of action. We will send details to the ICC (International Cricket Council). They will approve it and then the fixtures will be released,” he explained. Thakur said that BCCI was very keen to make the 2016 World Cup a great experience for the cricket fans. “2011 was a successful World Cup (Fifty overs) in India. The new challenge is what extra can you do. The 2016 World (Twenty20) Cup would be dedicated to fans who should have a great experience. “We are going to earmark specific areas for specially abled people. There should be turnstiles in each area. There should be proper security. The toilets must be clean and there must be drinking water. These are basic amenities which should be there.” PTI