The iconic Eden Gardens ground in Kolkata will be host to the final of the 2016 World Twenty20 cricket tournament that will be held in India from March 11 to April 3.
Bengaluru, Chennai, Dharamsala, Mohali, Mumbai, Nagpur and New Delhi will be the other venues along with Kolkata, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Tuesday. The venues will host both the men's and women's tournaments which will be held simultaneously.
These venues will host the matches subject to fulfilling the prescribed requirements of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the BCCI while adhering to the statutory obligations that are mandatory for hosting an international match.
"BCCI is extremely proud to host this prestigious event. All the venues identified have hosted many prestigious matches. With this announcement, we have begun our preparations in right earnest," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said in a statement on Tuesday.
"We want this World Twenty20 to be a memorable experience for our participants and fans. I am confident that all the venues nominated will deliver a world class event."
The BCCI has also constituted a tournament managing committee with president Jagmohan Dalmiya as its chairman.
The other committee members are Thakur, joint secretary Amitabh Choudhary, treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry, vice-president G. Ganga Raju, Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Rajeev Shukla, Mumbai Cricket Association vice-president Ashish Shelar and Orissa Cricket Association secretary Ashirbad Behera.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) expressed happiness at the development. BCCI joint secretary Subir Ganguly said the association would leave no stone unturned to make the event a success.
"What can be better than this? The people of Bengal who are madly in love with the game can watch the finals at this historic venue. The news brings us immense happiness," Ganguly told IANS on Tuesday.
"The whole world would have their eyes fixed on the historic venue, CAB will leave no stone unturned to make this a success. Everybody will come forward to help us I believe to host such a mega event. We need to fix up a plan as to what needs to be done but we still have a lot of time before the event," he said.
Eden Gardens has hosted important cricket matches over the years including the 1987 One-Day International (ODI) World Cup final, where Australia defeated England and the 1996 World Cup semi-final where Sri Lanka beat India.
