The ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 is likely to start on October 5 and the final to be held at the world’s largest cricket stadium — Narendra Modi Stadium — in Ahmedabad on November 19.

Apart from Ahmedabad, BCCI has shortlisted at least more than 10 venues for the mega event. The other venues include Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Rajkot and Mumbai.

The World Cup featuring 10 teams, will have 48 matches including three knockouts across the 46-day period, an ESPNcricinfo report said.

Besides the final, the BCCI has not finalised the specified venues for any games as yet, or the two or three cities where teams will play the warm-ups. The complications posed by the monsoon season receding at different points in different parts of India has caused the delay.

Notably, the ICC announces World Cup schedules at least a year in advance, but this time the world governing body has also been waiting for the BCCI to get the necessary clearances from the Indian government.

The report further said that getting a tax exemption for the tournament, and visa clearance for the Pakistan team, which has not played in India except at ICC events since early 2013, are the major issues.

It has been learnt that the BCCI at the ICC’s quarterly meetings in Dubai last weekend have assured the global body that visas for the Pakistan contingent will be cleared by the Indian government. As for the tax exemption issue, the BCCI is expected to update the ICC soon on the exact position of the Indian government.

The tax exemption has been part of the host’s agreement the BCCI signed with the ICC in 2014, when three men’s events were awarded to India: the 2016 T20 World Cup, the 2018 Champions Trophy (later changed to 2021 T20 World Cup, which was moved to the UAE and Oman due to the pandemic) and the 2023 ODI World Cup. As per the agreement, the BCCI was “obligated” to help the ICC (and all its commercial partners involved in the tournament) secure tax waivers.

Last year, the ICC was informed by the Indian tax authorities that it would be charged a 20 per cent tax order (excluding surcharges) for its broadcast revenue from the 2023 World Cup.

The BCCI in a note distributed to its members — state associations — pointed out that any tax “incurred” by ICC would be “adjusted” against the Indian board’s revenues from ICC’s central revenue pool.

In the note, the BCCI listed the ICC’s estimated broadcasting income from the 2023 World Cup at USD 533.29 million.

It said the “financial impact” it would suffer for a 10.92% tax order on that would be around UDS 58.23 million (the BCCI’s note listed the figure as USD 52.23 million, which appears to be an error given the percentages listed). That would more than double to roughly USD 116.47 million if the tax component were to be 21.84%, as desired by the Indian tax authorities.

Press Release, Source: IANS