India will finalise and submit its eight venues for the World Cup matches on Sunday that will be incorporated in the 2011 World Cup bid, a top Pakistan Cricket Board official said.
"India will be finalising eight venues for the World Cup matches tomorrow as these have to be incorporated in the document of interest/compliance book to be submitted with the official bid with the ICC by April 21," PCB Director, Cricket Operations, Saleem Altaf said.
Altaf attended an Asian sub-committee meeting in New Delhi on April 6 that was held under the chairmanship of I.S. Bindra.
"India originally had decided to hold the World Cup at 22 venues but have now changed their plans and will host 22 games at eight venues while Pakistan will host 16 matches, Sri Lanka nine and Bangladesh six," Altaf said.
Altaf disclosed that Pakistan had selected Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad as venues to host matches while Sri Lanka had earmarked the Premadasa Stadium and Sinhalese Cricket Club in Colombo.
Bangladesh will host matches at Fatullah Stadium on the outskirts of Dhaka.
The ICC is expected to decide the 2011 World Cup host later this month after evaluating Asia's bid on April 21.
Besides Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and England have also submitted their bids. If Asia's bid is accepted, England would withdraw its bid.
"We will be having another meeting on April 12 in Delhi in which they will submit the printed book and on April 13 the Board of Control for Cricket in India President Sharad Pawar would chair a meeting in which the documents would be finalised.
"The representatives of all four boards will meet again on April 18 in Abu Dhabi for a final presentation on the bid by Oglivy & Mather after which they would travel to Dubai to submit the bid," said the PCB official.
"The meetings in Delhi went very well with more coordination between the four countries over the final bid and compliance book requirements. Our representative Subhan Ahmed is, in fact, now in Dubai reviewing the compliance book with ICC officials before it is finally printed," he said.
The compliance book is a mandatory document and has been asked for by the ICC. The compliance book contains details of the concessions the host countries can give in taxes, visa and immigration control and also security, logistical arrangements etc. The compliance book is now a must with the official bid.
