NEW DELHI: The Centre is looking to use ‘cricket for diplomacy’ by granting free access of India’s cricketing facilities to Commonwealth nations, Indian Express reports.
The government is likely to make an open invitation to nations for the same, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) summit, scheduled for April in London.
Officials from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) have discussed the proposal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between the government and the BCCI soon. As per the plan, two to three Commonwealth teams will travel to India every year. The BCCI will bear the cost of such trips, the report suggests.
Sources told the newspaper, “CEO Rahul Johri and Saba Karim (general manager, Cricket Operations) had a few meetings with the Ministry of External Affairs as well as with the Sports Ministry. The paperwork is almost complete. The board will lend its support to countries who come under the Commonwealth. As India is a powerhouse in world cricket, the government wanted the board to lend a helping hand to these countries and let them use the top-class facilities.”
Commonwealth countries with a Test playing tradition include Australia, England, Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies.
However, many other ‘associate and affiliate members’ of the International Cricket Council (ICC) such as Singapore, Zambia, Uganda, Fiji, Namibia, Bahamas and Papua New Guinea do not have regular access to state-of-the-art cricketing infrastructure, which is what this initiative aims to provide.
