Jay Shah inspects 2027 ODI World Cup venues in South Africa

Jay Shah. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Jay Shah, who is in a tour to Africa, visited the stadiums set to host the ODI World Cup in 2027. The ICC Chairman was welcomed with a red carpet by the stadium authorities in Wanderers and Centurion, where he inspected their quality. Notably Shah's visit coincided with the Titans' annual awards.

Before visiting the stadium in Centurion, Shah ensured to see the quality of the stadium at the Wanderers. Lions president Mohammad Moosajee drove along with the ICC Chairman and guided him on the tour. Shah dropped by in Botswana on his way to South Africa, from where he had to leave for Ahmedabad. Before that, Shah was in Zimbabwe, which hosted the ICC Board and Committee Meeting.

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Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa will jointly host the ODI World Cup in 2027. It will be the first ODI World Cup in South Africa and Zimbabwe since 2003, which jointly hosted the tournament along with Kenya. Back in time, the stadiums were upgraded, and there were no drop-in pitches. In 2027, the World Cup in stadiums at the Wanderers, Centurion, Kingsmead, and Newlands might witness drop-in pitches.

"He wanted to have a look around" - Lions' chief executive on Jay Shah's visit

The fact that the ICC Chairman has inspected the stadiums with two years to go for the tournament has bodes well for  the members of the stadium authorities in Centurion. Jono Leaf-Wright, the Lions' chief executive, expressed his views after the meeting and highlighted what took place. He said that the ICC President had a casual discussion about global cricket and there was no official agenda for the meeting. 

"He hadn't been to the [Wanderers] in a while, so he wanted to have a look around," Leaf-Wright was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

"We took him everywhere from the media centre to the dressing room to down the tunnel and onto the field. It was really just a walkabout, chatting about global cricket. There was no agenda and no official meeting. It was a good catch-up and a relationship-building session," he added.