ICC team inspects Sylhet stadium to check on status

The ICC inspection team, which visited the Sylhet stadium on Sunday, will wait until the September 30 deadline before taking a decision on the viability of the ground as a venue for the World Twenty20 next year. The team will also hold a meeting with the BCB next week after their visit to all venues in Bangladesh.

The inspection team included ICC's host liaison Chris Tetley, tournament director Dhiraj Malhotra, consultants Eugene van Vuuren and Andy Atkinson. They were accompanied in Sylhet by BCB's acting CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury and city mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury, among others.

According to local organisers, the team took a close look at the under-construction grandstand building, the media centre, the green gallery and the proposed approach roads for around three hours on Sunday. Later, Tetley did not comment on the progress but said the team wanted to make sure the work was being done properly.

"We are just inspecting the stadium and ensuring that the BCB, the NCC and stadium-related authorities are doing their respective jobs," he said.

An ESPNcricinfo visit to Sylhet showed that the structure of two floors of the four-storey grandstand building has been completed. The media centre is being refurbished to bring it up to international standard. A hill, on the north-west part of the ground, is being carved to be at the same level as the one-tiered galleries on either side. It is being called the green gallery, and will be a grass bank on top of the hill.