India is all set to host the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time ever. The world cup will begin on the 5th of October and end on the 19th of November, with the final scheduled to be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium, the world’s largest cricket stadium.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has shortlisted 12 venues for the event, including hotspots like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, according to ESPNCricinfo. The tournament will be jam-packed with a total of 48 matches spread over 46 days.

BCCI has however, not specified any venues for matches and the cities which will host the warm-up matches. This is due to the unpredictability of the receding monsoon season, which is set to occur at different times in different parts of India.

Usually, ICC authorities announce the World Cup schedule a year in advance, but this year it got delayed because the BCCI is waiting for the necessary clearance from the Indian government. This includes tax exemption and visa clearance for the Pakistani cricket team, which has not yet played a bilateral series against India since 2013. Both teams have only played at ICC events since then.

Despite the delay, the BCCI has promised the ICC during it’s quarterly meetings held last week in Dubai, that the Pakistani team will receive their visas.

On the tax exemption issue, BCCI is expected to provide an update to ICC on exact position of the government on the matter. The tax exemption has been a part of the host agreement that BCCI signed with ICC in 2014. Three events were given to India, the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup, the 2018 Champions Trophy (later changed to the 2021 T20 World Cup, which was held in UAE and Oman due to COVID-19) and the 2023 50-over World Cup.

As per the agreement, the BCCI was “obligated” to help out the ICC (and all its commercial partners involved in the tournament) in securing tax waivers.Last year, ICC was informed by 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.

In a note distributed to its members-state associations, BCCI said that any tax “incurred” by ICC would be adjusted against India’s board revenues from ICC central revenue pool.

However, the BCCI has promised to adjust any tax incurred by the ICC against India’s board revenues from the ICC central revenue pool. The BCCI estimates that a 10.92% tax order would result in a “financial impact” of around $58.23 million, while a 21.84% tax component would double that figure to roughly $116.47 million.

(With inputs from ANI)