The matter might once again come up for discussion at the ICC Board meetings in Kolkata on Wednesday and Thursday. The matter might once again come up for discussion at the ICC Board meetings in Kolkata on Wednesday and Thursday.

The BCCI would resist any attempt from the ICC to scrap the 2021 Champions Trophy in India, replacing it with a World T20 instead. Cricket board treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry said doing away with the Champions Trophy would result in a loss of approximately $30 million to BCCI coffers.

It is learnt that the ICC conclave in Auckland last year had floated the idea of replacing the 2021 Champions Trophy with a World T20, which the BCCI team rejected. The matter might once again come up for discussion at the ICC Board meetings in Kolkata on Wednesday and Thursday under Item No. 6.2 on the agenda that says, “Formats and ICC Competition Architecture”.

“It is now learnt that there is a proposal to replace the Champions Trophy tournament scheduled in 2021 by a World T20 event. This might cause a loss of about $30 million to the BCCI and its stakeholders. Knowing the mood of the member organisations of the BCCI, in all likelihood, this would be unacceptable to the BCCI’s General Body which had earlier resolved that the Member Participation Agreement with the ICC would not be executed without the approval of the General Body,” Chaudhry told The Indian Express.

The treasurer also took a dig at ICC chairman Shashank Manohar, saying: “Having worked with Mr Manohar, one realises that he does miss out on briefing the house on crucial information that has potentially significant ramifications for the organisation concerned and therefore it is important for the ICC Board to understand the correct picture vis-à-vis the BCCI.”

The ICC events for the 2019-2023 FTP cycle had been agreed upon in Auckland. As per the agreement, Australia was given the hosting rights of the 2020 World T20, while India got the 2021 Champions Trophy and the 2023 World Cup.

Financial sustainability

According to a cricket board source, however, a recent ICC meeting on strategy and financial sustainability had mentioned the proposed 2021 Champions Trophy as a “World T20 tournament”. Chaudhry, meanwhile, slammed the global body for its attitude towards the Indian board.

“It appears that the morality of the ICC excludes India’s interests but includes India’s money. It also appears that the true intent and the optics of the intent also differ greatly,” the treasurer said, adding: “How can we, the BCCI, devalue the life of a child playing cricket in a remote district in India in order to add value to a life of someone playing cricket in Ireland or Pakistan. All life is valuable and as BCCI, it is our duty to do the best we can for those who play the game within our area of operation. Also, we must not lose sight of the fact that the Champions Trophy is a brainchild of the late Jagmohan Dalmiya, who conceptualised it for the greater sustenance of the 50-over format.”

One BCCI member felt that scrapping the 2021 Champions Trophy would be “contradictory” to the global body’s concept of offering greater substance to the longer formats against the growing threat posed by the proliferation of T20 cricket. The Auckland meetings had, in principle, agreed on introducing a nine-team Test league and a 13-team ODI league from 2019 and 2020 respectively.

2019 IPL starts in March

As the BCCI had advanced the 2019 edition of the IPL, to be played from March 29 to May 19, the ICC Chief Executives Committee meeting in Kolkata on Tuesday also agreed upon an altered itinerary for next year’s World Cup. As per the new schedule, India will play their first match against South Africa on June 5. Their match against Pakistan is scheduled for June 16. The Indian board advanced next year’s IPL to ensure a 15-day lay-off between the T20 league and the World Cup, in accordance with the Supreme Court directive. India will also play 19 home Tests during the 2019-2023 FTP cycle.

WC 2019: India vs Pak on June 16

India will open their 2019 WC campaign against South Africa on June 5 and square off against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 16. Here’s the full schedule:

India vs South Africa: June 5, 2019

India vs Australia: June 9, 2019

India vs New Zealand: June 13, 2019

India vs Pakistan: June 16, 2019

India vs Afghanistan: June 2, 2019

India vs West Indies: June 27, 2019

India vs England: June 30, 2019

India vs Bangladesh: July 2, 2019

India vs Sri Lanka: July 6, 2019

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