The International Cricket Council on Thursday dismissed Pakistan's claim that India was behind the shifting of their 2011 World Cup matches and said the decision could have been avoided if the security apprehensions in the strife-torn country were responsibly addressed during the ICC Executive Board meeting.
"India had nothing to do with the decision. The decision was taken after consulting all the member nations. There are altogether 16 member nation's in ICC and India is just one of them," ICC Chief Executive Officer Haroon Lorgat said.
"Had Pakistan done half as they are doing right now before the ICC meeting, the decision could have been avoided. We know many countries won't tour Pakistan. Pakistan is now trying to defend their own position," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Delhi.
On the possibility of shifting Pakistan's share of World Cup matches to neutral venues like Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Lorgat said the ICC hasn't received any such proposal from the PCB.
"We have received no such proposal on neutral venue," he said.
The ICC CEO, who was in Delhi to unveil 'LG Lead XI campaign' which will witness 15 children leading the Indian team on to the ground to participate in the national anthem ceremony, also expressed confidence of hosting a peaceful and successful 2011 cricketing extravaganza.
But Lorgat said in the coming days more security checks would be carried out in the venues of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
"It's a normal part of our process. We will still review the security in the other three host countries," he said.
Lorgat also denied Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi's claim that Champions League Twenty20 and other domestic tournaments would be a part of ICC's Future Tour Programmes.
Modi had said on the IPL's official website that an annual window for the Twenty20 event, which will be held later this year in India between champion teams of seven countries, will be created in the FTP.
But Lorgat said Modi was misinterpreted by the media and the IPL Commissioner was in full agreement with the ICC on the matter.
"I have a very good relationship with Lalit Modi. I had a chat with him during the Indian Premier League in South Africa recently and found that the comments attributed to him on the FTP are misreported.
"We have no plan to include Champions Twenty20 League in the FTP. As because last year the inaugural Champions Twenty20 could not be held due to the terror attacks in Mumbai, the ICC member nations worked together and found out a window for the tournament this year," he said.
"As far as ICC is concerned, there is no place for domestic events in FTP. The FTP does not include any fixtures between domestic teams, even those from more than one country, and only features ICC events, such as the ICC Cricket World Cup, the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC World Twenty20, and bilateral fixtures between Full Member international teams," Lorgat added.
Asked about the ICC's plans on organising the much-talked about Day-and-Night Tests, Lorgat said, "It's still early dates for Day and Night Tests, but we encourage the concept. We are conducting thorough research on the concept at the moment."
He announced that as per the new contract signed between the two parties, LG would remain ICC Global Partner for all ICC events till 2015.
