Cricket broadcasters Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon have come down hard on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the scheduling of the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 in their country after the board secretary Jay Shah announced that there will be changes in some of the fixtures for the showpiece event.
Expect changes in World Cup Schedule: Jay Shah
Shah said last month that the blockbuster match between India and Pakistan will be played at a different date than what was originally scheduled due to the Navratri festival in India.
The match was supposed to take place on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad but will now be played a day earlier.
Shah also said that a number of other member boards have written to the BCCI regarding the fixtures for their teams which will also see some changes.
The announcement about the changes came just days after the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the ODI World Cup dates and venues in a star-studded event at the St Regis hotel in Mumbai.
BCCI becomes the laughing stock
Broadcasters Lemon and Collins have now criticised the BCCI and called it an "incompetent sporting body" for the uncertainty that it has created over the World Cup scheduling.
"The 50-over men's World Cup in October-November this year, the schedule is changing. Because a number of host boards have written to the BCCI and said, 'the schedule don't work'.
"'There's too many logistical hurdles you're making us jump through here. You've got to give us more time for travel and so on'. So they are considering that," mocked Collins on The Final Word podcast.
Lemon agreed with his colleague and went on to further bash the Indian cricket board over its incompetency.
"The BCCI I think, must be the most incompetent major sporting body in the world. It's pretty hard to make the argument otherwise, just on purely the practical grounds that we're laying here.
"There is a World Cup in now, what, under three months that still doesn't have a reliable fixture. You can't book to go to games because they might change to another city and date entirely.
"The BCCI, I don't think they are evil... They're just really bad at doing stuff," Lemon said.
India to host World Cup solely for the first time
The ODI World Cup is scheduled to be played from October 5 to November 19. India has co-hosted the WC thrice before in 1987, 1996 and 2011 with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
But this is the first time the country will be solely hosting the biggest tournament in cricket.
