Dissatisfaction among ICC members over hosting the World Cup

Dissatisfaction among ICC members over hosting the World Cup

Dissatisfaction has arisen among several ICC boards over the organization of the recently concluded T20 World Cup. It is also known that questions will be raised in this month's ICC meeting.

India won the World Cup jointly organized by USA and West Indies by defeating South Africa in the final. This was the first time that an ICC global trophy was held in the United States, although there were no matches after the group stage. Super Eight, semi-final and final were held at various venues in West Indies. According to a report of the cricket-based website Cricbuzz, several members of the ICC will raise questions about the recently concluded tournament in the next meeting.

Several West Indies pitches, including New York's Nassau County Stadium, were quite challenging for batting. Whether or not the pitch could be an ideal advertisement for T20, there was a debate about it during the World Cup. Although there was a balance in the bat-ball battle due to the hard pitch, many felt that too.

However, all concerned had to face logistical problems throughout the World Cup. The World Cup has been held in seven countries including the United States. Even a one-hour flight to the Caribbean sometimes takes 20 hours. After the second semi-final in Guyana there were no direct flights to Barbados, the venue for the final.

England played in the second semi-final against India, but only one journalist from the British print media was present in Guyana. Eventually the ICC brought the journalists from Guyana to Barbados on their charter flight. But the fans were not naturally so lucky. The final was well attended but the gallery was not full.

Rain interrupted the second semi-final in Guyana several times. But there was no reserve day for that match. India once again knew before the start of the tournament, which ground they would play in if they reached the semi-finals. Although England and South Africa confirmed to reach the semi-finals, it was not certain which ground they would play on. Many have criticized this rule.

Many matches including a semi-final, final started at 10:30 am local time keeping in mind the television audience of the Indian subcontinent, especially India. Many people think that T20 usually accumulates under the floodlights. The schedule made keeping in mind the Indian television audience had an impression on the empty gallery as well.

However, this is the first T20 World Cup with 20 teams, which is the highest in the history of the tournament. Whether the number of teams will be increased or not, there has been a discussion. There will be four groups of six teams in the World Cup with 24 teams. This means the matches of teams like India will increase by one. As a result, it is expected to be attractive to broadcasters.

However, ICC officials told Cricbuzz that they have no plans to increase the number of teams at the moment. T20 World Cup will be held jointly in India and Sri Lanka in 2026, 20 teams will also play there. The next two editions of the T20 World Cup will be jointly held in Australia and New Zealand in 2028 and in 2030 in the United Kingdom, Scotland and Ireland. However, the possibility of increasing the number of teams in those two events cannot be ruled out.