India will host the 2011 cricket world cup.
According to media sources, International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Ehsan Mani says he is "grateful " to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for personally ensuring tax exemption for the 2006 Champions Trophy and that the immunity will "allow " India to bid for the 2011 World Cup.
"The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and the ICC worked very closely to obtain the tax exemption. It would have been unfortunate, to say the least, if India had not been able to host the Champions Trophy, " Mani told IANS in an e-mail interview.
"I am very grateful to the Prime Minister of India for personally intervening in this matter; this demonstrates the importance of cricket to the people of India, " said the ICC president.
The London-based Mani said that the tax exemption, to be granted henceforth to all internationally recognised sports events to be held in India, would inspire the BCCI to bid for the 2011 World Cup.
"From an Asian perspective, this is an important decision as it will allow India to join Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in bidding for the World Cup 2011, " the ICC president maintained.
This is the first time that any cricket official, including from the BCCI, has talked about a joint World Cup bid by the four Test-playing nations of Asia, though some officials have spoken about India 's desire to host the premier tournament.
If the four countries eventually bid jointly, it will be the first time in the history of the World Cup that one edition will be held in so many Test nations. The maximum has been three when India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka hosted the World Cup in 1996.
Mani 's comments come even as New Zealand and Australia have expressed their desire to make a joint bid for the 2011 World Cup.
Mani, however, said the issue of choosing the host for 2011 tournament was not taken up at the annual ICC meetings in London last month.
"This matter is likely to come up for discussion over the next 18 months, " he disclosed.
India has hosted two World Cups, jointly with Pakistan in 1987, and then in 1996.
Also for the first time, Mani openly supported the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) request for allotting every third World Cup - or every 12 years - to the subcontinent because of the fact that four of the 10 Test-playing nations belong to the region.
"The request - not a demand - of the ACC is reasonable. After all, four of the (ICC) 10 Full Member countries are from Asia, " said the 60-year-old Pakistan-born chartered accountant.
"On the principle of rotation due weightage has to be given to this; I do not think that this will be a major issue, " said Mani.
ACC president Jagmohan Dalmiya had last year announced in Colombo that the continental body had decided to ask the ICC to allot every third World Cup to the subcontinent on the basis of its strength.
No other continent or region has as many Test-playing nations clubbed together.
Mani also said that offshore venues like Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Dubai - where the ICC offices will shift from London Aug 1 - can also hold some matches of the ICC events like the World Cup, Champions Trophy, under-19 World Cup and the ICC Trophy.
"Apart from the ICC events, cricket at any venue is a matter for our individual members and the venues, " said Mani.
"The World Cup requires at least eight venues to host the matches. There is no reason for these venues not to work closely with the subcontinent to host ICC events, " suggested the Rawalpindi-born Mani.
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