MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly set to host its seventh Apex Council meeting on April 16.
The major points on the agenda for the meeting are the ICC T20 World Cup in India, the inclusion of cricket in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, FTP for international women’s cricket, domestic season, among others.
There are as many as 14 discussion points on the agenda for the seventh Apex Council ‘special meeting’, ANI reports.
Also on the agenda of the meeting is the appointment of the Indian women’s team’s support staff and their international assignments, which have been hit badly by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team is set to play a Test for the first time in more than six years, as announced by secretary Jay Shah, and is expected to travel to England and Australia later this year.
The BCCI is also likely to take a call on the long pending tax and visa issue ahead of the T20 World Cup in India, PTI reports. After its latest board meeting, the ICC said it expects hosts India to get the necessary visa guarantees and tax exemptions by the end of this month.
ICC’s interim CEO Geoff Allardice on Wednesday said the body has backup plans in place for the T20 World Cup in India later this year but is currently not entertaining any thoughts of moving it out of the country despite a surge in COVID-19 cases. The tournament is scheduled to be held in October-November in India, which is reporting over 100,000 daily cases for the past few days. Amid the COVID surge, the IPL is due to start on Friday in Chennai behind closed doors. “We are certainly proceeding with the event as planned,” Allardice said during a virtual media round-table.
“Plan B we have, but we haven’t activated those plans yet. We are working with the BCCI, we do have backup plans that can be activated if the time comes,” he added.
There will also be talks on how to conduct the 2021-’22 domestic season. Last season, the BCCI had to scrap Ranji Trophy for the first time in 87 years due to the pandemic but went ahead with the T20 and one-day events.
The Indian cricket board could also finalise its stand on backing the ICC’s bid for cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympics. If it decides to support the game’s inclusion in the Summer Games, it might have to give up on its autonomy and become a national sports federation.
It might also grant recognition to the Differently Abled Cricket Council of India, having conducted fruitful talks with the stakeholders recently, PTI further reports.
