The fate of the Sylhet Divisional stadium, scheduled to host matches of the ICC World Twenty20 next year, will be decided today when the ICC inspection team visits the stadium to see the progress of its development, said BCB officials on Sunday. The eight-member ICC delegation includes event director Chris Tetley, stadium consultant Eugene Van Vuuren, event manager Dhiraj Malhotra and chief curator Andy Atkinson and they will arrive in Dhaka today to inspect the venue before filing the final report on the north-eastern stadium.
‘Our biggest challenge lies ahead when the ICC delegation will make their final inspection of the Syhet stadium for the [ICC] World Twenty20,’ said Nazmul Hasan on Sunday.
‘If we can satisfy them then I don’t see any serious problem,’ said Nazmul.
Officials of the Bangladesh Cricket Board said that this visit is crucial as it is directly related to the image of the country’s cricket. The ICC at its last annual general meeting expressed concerns over the Sylhet and Cox’s Bazar stadium, which will host part of the men’s and women’s matches of the ICC World T20.
The tournament is scheduled to be held from March 16 to April 9, 2014 with Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla National stadium, Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium and the Sylhet Divisional stadium being touted as the venues for the men’s event. The BCB has earmarked the Cox’s Bazar stadium for all matches of the women’s event.
Officials of cricket’s governing body said that they were preparing to host a mega launching programme on October 27 to initiate the ticket-selling activities of the forthcoming ICC World T20. All the 178 councillors will be invited to the programme.
‘If everything goes according to plan, we will make it a grand occasion to launch the sale of tickets on October 27,’ said BCB executive member Ismail Haider Mallick on Sunday.
‘We are trying to invite the honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the occasion provided she is available as we are expecting her to be the first person to buy a ticket of the tournament,’ added Mallick.
-With New Age input
