Former Pakistani opener Mohammad Hafeez took a huge dig at the BCCI and called their organization and planning for the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 ‘poor’. He further pointed out the lack of crowd in the stadiums.
The World Cup 2023 has been marred by some planning difficulties as the schedule altered two months later after first announcing it on June 27, including the India-Pakistan clash due to the Hindu festival Navratri.
The retired Pakistan cricketer has accused the BCCI of shallow thinking for the competition.
"We have seen the overall World Cup in just four days, till now, I have seen poor organizing and poor planning from the organizers," Hafeez said. "The second biggest issue of this World Cup is the poor response from the crowd. When you are hosting a global event, then you have to make decisions globally [on a bigger scale]. You cannot make big decisions with a narrow-minded approach,” Hafeez said on a local TV show, quoted by Geo Super TV.
Furthermore, Hafeez targeted the outfield at the HPCA stadium in Dharamshala. Recently during the Afghanistan vs. Bangladesh World Cup game at the venue, Mujeeb Ur Rahman escaped a knee injury while sliding on the uneven and soft outfield.
Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott and England captain Jos Buttler also showed concerns about the Dharamshala outfield and said that he would tell his players not to take risks and injure themselves.
Sharing his thoughts on the state of Dharamshala's ground, Mohammad Hafeez questioned the BCCI's silence on the same.
He said: "No one has talked about it but Dharamshala’s outfield is a big question mark. It’s not safe for the players.”
Hafeez also took up the issue of delay in clearing the visas for Pakistani fans and journalists.
“It does not matter where they are, fans of every single team should get visas. If you can’t deal with this [an event as big as the World Cup] in a global way, then its impact will not be global," he continued.
