‘ Yeh to rone lage’ – Fans share views after Punjab Sports Minister suggests ‘politics’ behind Mohali not getting games for ODI World Cup 2023
All the speculations and waiting finally came to an end regarding the schedule for ODI World Cup 2023 as the Apex cricket council released the schedule on Tuesday in a special event which was held in Mumbai. The fixtures list for the marquee event was released exactly 100 days prior to the commencement. The marquee event will be taking place at different venues in India from October 5 to November 19. Also, the first match will be played between the finalist of the 2019 World Cup England and New Zealand.
Amid all the disclosure of venues, fans were surprised that the epic IS Bindra Stadium of Mohali was not given any World Cup matches. It is quite astonishing as the venue even hosted the all-important semi-final of the 2011 Cricket world cup and also a game in the 1996 World Cup. The venue even hosted the quarter-finals of the 2016 T20 World Cup. But it was to the remorse of the fans that they did not get a game and now they have to either go to Delhi or Dharmsala for watching live matches.
After the fixtures were announced the Punjab sports minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer was incensed by the Indian Cricket Board’s treatment of PCA and said that it was done for political purposes. He claimed that Punjab is the target of open discrimination and it was probably the reason behind Punjab not being given any game to host for the ODI world cup 2023.
“I condemn this. Apart from the opening and final matches, Ahmedabad also gets to host the India-Pakistan match. But for Mohali, there is no game. The Mohali stadium is not just one of the top five stadiums in India but is also considered one of the most prominent stadiums in the world. Discrimination against Punjab will not be tolerated at any cost.” Hayer explained.
Here are some of the tweets from some of the fans who also expressed their views on this news:
Yep, Motera is getting overused and and an Iconic venue like Mohali being left out is very sad.
— Danish (@danishiqbal__) June 28, 2023
https://twitter.com/ImMayurJindal/status/1673907505410482176?s=20
Bro come on, Do you know anything about chepauk ?
— dhanasekar (@dhanasehar) June 28, 2023
https://twitter.com/GoatByBrain/status/1673907409503281152?s=20
https://twitter.com/vkfanclub007/status/1673906132509949952?s=20
Too many moths there , good it’s not a venue of the World Cup ! Dharamshala deserves it more !
— Jaspreet Singh GujraL (@iamkingjaspreet) June 28, 2023
50+stadium's in india
It's not possible to play everywhere .— BETA 93K (@belowthebelt56) June 28, 2023
Yep Mohali should have hosted but I reckon many states are not getting matches and that is bound to happen in a country like India . I think BCCI should compensate these stadiums by giving 2026 T20 wC rights to these nations . As India will host 3 ICC tournaments next cycle
— Abhisek@2816 (@AbhisekBChoudh2) June 28, 2023
The sports minister also added that the state government of Punjab which is currently led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann will certainly be raising the issue regarding this to the authorities at Cricket governing body in India.
