Bangla-desh has thanked co-hosts India and Sri Lanka for allowing them to play all their six group matches of the World Cup 2011 at home. ‘We are really grateful to them [India and Sri Lanka]. Without their co-operation it would not have been possible,’ AHM Mustafa Kamal, the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, said at a briefing on Wednesday.

The BCB president, also the chairman of the event’s Local Organising Committee, and other officials were briefing reporters after their return from Mumbai, where the schedule of the tournament had been announced on Monday. Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka will co-host the event in February-March, but Bangladesh is the only country to have been allowed to play all their six group matches at home.

The BCB officials said if Bangladesh progress into the quarter-final, they will also be allowed to play the game at home provided they does not draw against any co-host. Bangladesh is scheduled to host the first and third quarter-finals of the event. ‘If Bangladesh are needed to play against either India or Sri Lanka in the quarter-final, the venue will be decided according to the team’s group standings and the team with better standing will host the match,’ said Mahbub Anam, the senior vice-president of the BCB.

Anam, who is also the secretary of the Central Organising Committee, said the ticket selling of the event is likely to start from February 17, exactly a year before the opening ceremony at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. The ticket price will be decided in the meeting of the COC in Dhaka on January 9. Sharad Power, the president-elect of the ICC and head of the COC, will preside over the meeting which will be followed by the trophy unveiling ceremony. The captains of all three hosts, who will be co-incidentally busy in a triangular tournament in Dhaka during the period, are expected to be present at the unveiling ceremony.

The BCB officials said the COC meeting in January will decide the ticket price of the opening ceremony, which will be a separate event in a separate venue. Hosts Bangladesh will get all the revenues generated from selling tickets of the opening ceremony. Three hosts will also get all the gate money from the matches in their respective countries and this has made Bangladesh extremely happy as its national squad is involved in all the group matches here. India’s consent to play in Bangladesh instead of inviting them to their country made the clause more lucrative for the BCB. Apart from India, the BCB officials said they did not need to convince any other country to play here as they all readily agreed.

Asked why they have decided to host England in Chittagong instead of Dhaka despite knowing that they will be accompanied by a large media contingent and a big group of supporters called Barmy Army, the BCB officials said it was not their choice. ‘Apart from the opening match, we did not choose any venue for any particular team. They were selected randomly,’ the BCB vice-president Anam said adding that the ICC is fully convinced about the accommodation and other facilities in the port city. A group of ICC officials visited Dhaka and Chittagong last month and were fully satisfied, the BCB officials said. ‘We, however, have to report the development of the renovation process every month,’ said Shafiqur Rahman, the chairman of BCB’s grounds committee. The ICC will inspect the venues and facilities again in March next year and the BCB will have to hand over the venues to them at least three months before the tournament begins, said the official.

-New Age