The Board of Control for Cricket in India "plans to buy land and build a cricket stadium, which will be owned and administered by them, and does not belong to any state association," according to Devendra Pandey of the INDIAN EXPRESS. It will "most likely be in Delhi," and be built in five years. The board hopes to host its marquee games such as the finals of the Indian Premier League and World Cups. This "will be the first BCCI-owned-and-run stadium." The initiative "comes on the back of bitter experiences in the past" when the BCCI was "forced to shift cricket matches to alternate venues at the last moment." The idea was proposed by BCCI President Anurag Thakur during the working committee meeting held in Dharmashala "where members agreed that time has come for BCCI to have its own stadium with all modern and world class facilities." Thakur: "Members agreed that time has come when BCCI should have its own state-of-the-art stadium where some of the marquee matches could be played, be it IPL finals or World Cup finals." Though the talks are in the initial stages, the BCCI "has zeroed in on Delhi as the venue for BCCI’s new stadium." The new stadium "might be coming up at the outskirts of the city," and the Board will now start the search for land. Thakur said that "it would be an all-out weather stadium and have a cricket museum" (INDIAN EXPRESS, 6/29).
