It was paradise lost for the City of Joy as the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday ruled out the historic Eden Gardens as the venue for the key World Cup match between India and England after the stadium failed to meet the deadline for completion of renovation.
The ICC has requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to suggest an alternative venue so that the match can be shifted there. But late in the evening Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) who should cop much of the blame for the sordid mess, came up with two suggestions to keep the World Cup matches at Eden.
The first is a swap deal with another association that will allow Eden to host a different match at a later date in exchange for the England match. In another move, he has offered to hand over a 'match-ready' Eden Gardens on February 7 to the ICC. Dalmiya, who has maintained that the Eden would be ready in time to host the February 27 match, said that the extra few days gained would help the CAB to have everything in place to play the perfect host.
The BCCI, on its part, has asked the CAB president to make a written submission in this respect which will be duly forwarded to the ICC, the tournament hosts. All this, however, may not cut much ice with the world body. From all available indication, the swap deal which may upset the entire World Cup schedule, is a non-starter as far as the ICC is concerned. And regarding Dalmiya's offer to hand over Eden by February 7, the ICC will strictly go by the report of its venue-inspection team, which will visit Kolkata again on January 31 to ascertain Eden's preparedness to host the other three non-India matches, scheduled there in March.
If the ICC team finds the pace of renovation work unsatisfactory, it is likely to move the Ireland vs South Africa (March 15), Ireland vs Holland (March 18) and Kenya vs Zimbabwe (March 20) matches out of Kolkata and it would be up to the BCCI to reallocate them.
The ICC, which surprised many by provisionally clearing the newly-renovated Wankhede Stadium despite concerns about the pending work, now wants Mumbai to host the India vs England match.
Specifying the reasons for taking away the match from Eden, the ICC said, "Of particular concern was the fact that host venue obligations in relation to cricket operations, media, broadcast and sponsorship facilities were not finalised and/or confirmed by the venue."
It is not the first time when India has faced embarrassment because of procedural irregularity. There are certain occassion when Indian pitches has been declared unhealthy to play upon. BCCI should look into this issue more seriously having all resources and being the strongest cricket board across the globe.
Posted by: Haris Jamil & Ritabrata Roy
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