MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council ICC President Percy Sonn today welcomed an expression of interest from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to host the ICC Twenty20 World Championship in 2013.

Sonn says, "It is very encouraging for the future of this fledgling format that even before we have hosted the first ICC Twenty20 World Championship in 2007, countries are queuing up to host future tournaments.

"The ICC Board made a strategic decision earlier this year to leave the host of the 2013 event open when it set the calendar of ICC events through to 2015. We wanted to see how popular the new format would be before determining the most appropriate host.

"It is still seven years away and we won’t be deciding the host for some time but it’s always good to see our Members backing the competitions that we run."

The inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Championship will take place next September in South Africa while the 2009 event is due to be staged in England. The expression of interest on behalf of the BCCI to host the 2013 event was made by IS Bindra at an ICC meeting in Dubai this week.