Asian giants to meet in a bid to host a better WC in 2011

KARACHI, June 15: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sharad Pawar will lead a 10-member board delegation to Pakistan early next week to work out a formula to make the 2011 World Cup, to be played in Asia, better than its previous ditions.

The Pawar-led BCCI delegation will include secretary Niranjan Shah, vice-president Lalit Modi and former board chief IS Bindra among others.

Besides India, delegations from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and hosts Pakistan's cricket boards will also assemble in the summer resort of Bhurban on June 18 to lay down a 'strong foundation' for a successful hosting of the World Cup, The News reported.

Saleem Altaf, CEO of the 2011 World Cup Organising Committee, was quoted as saying, that in the meeting, the officials would also work out a method to meet initial expenses in the setting up and the running of the various organising committees. It is estimated that the 2011 World Cup hosts would need at least half-a-million dollars to the set the ball rolling. "We need around $500,000 for the initial expenses. This amount will be shared equally by the four boards," he said.

"A long and challenging journey would get underway with this meeting," said Altaf, adding, "So, it would be an important meeting where we would be working on, among other things, the composition of the central organising committee".

The officials would also decide the frequency of future meetings of the central organising committee, and the setting up of local organising committees in the four host countries.

"We have to see whether all the boards are ready to put the local organising committees in place by February 2008, three years before the World Cup," he said.

Former Sri Lankan Test cricketer Duleep Mendis will be representing his country along with other officials while the secretary as well as CEO of the Bangladeshi board would also attend the meeting. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf and Saleem Altaf will represent the host country.

Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will jointly host the 2011 World Cup. – (ANI)