NEWS
Follow UsAfter the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah made it clear that his board has no intentions to host the Women’s T20 World Cup, according to reports by ESPN Cricinfo, Zimbabwe has just thrown in its hat to become a neutral host of the International Cricket Council (ICC) tournament.
The anti-government protests and the fragile state of law and order in Bangladesh, the original hosts of the T20 World Cup, had pushed the ICC to look for alternate venues for the tournament. India has already put itself out of contention as hosts, and the other close-by option, Sri Lanka, has weather-related concerns in October. In these circumstances, Zimbabwe can be a lucrative option for the ICC, which might consider the UAE as the other potential neutral host.
While Zimbabwe hasn’t hosted a major cricket tournament since 2003, it recently hosted the ICC Men's World Cup Qualifiers in 2023. The country has two well-equipped venues in Harare and Bulawayo that can host the matches.
Recently played cricket matches in Zimbabwe, especially in Harare, have seen large crowds coming in for the games. The stadiums don’t have a crowd capacity upwards of 10,000, which helps to fill the stadium quickly. Moreover, the weather during October in Zimbabwe remained dry and favourable for cricket.
Another potential reason that could help Zimbabwe’s bid is the massive size of stadiums in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and the unlikeliness of them filling up during the tournament. This could impact the overall TV product, which is immensely crucial for the ICC’s revenue-related reasons.
The ball is now in ICC’s court, as it has to decide the venue for the World Cup as soon as possible, as the tournament was originally scheduled to start on October 3.
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