India withdraws from hosting ICC Knockout Tournament

India has withdrawn from its bid to host the ICC Knockout Tournament as the Board of Control for Cricket in India has not received tax exemption from the Government.

"We have not received the exemption so far and it does not look like we are going to get it. As time is running out, for the Tournament scheduled to be held in September, we have withdrawn from hosting the event," Board secretary Niranjan Shah said from Rajkot on Wednesday.

He said the tournament would not be viable for the Board without the tax exemption for which International Cricket Council president Malcolm Gray and then BCCI president A C Muthiah met Sports Minister Uma Bharti and other senior government functionaries here last summer.

Shah said Sri Lanka was the front runner among the alternate venues with Sharjah and Australia also in contention.

A final decision on who is to host the third edition of the tournament, due this year, will be taken at the ICC Executive Board meeting in Kuala Lumpur in March, he said.

All ten Test-playing nations - Australia, South Africa, England, West Indies, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh - participate in the tournament, also known as the mini-world cup, to raise funds for ICC's development fund.

Dhaka (1998) hosted the first edition of the tournament and the second was held in Nairobi in 2000.

Mail Cricket Editor