MUMBAI: It was paradise lost for the City of Joy as the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday declared the Eden Gardens unfit to host India's World Cup group league match against England slated for February 27. With the renovation work progressing at snail's pace, the ICC team which carried out a final inspection of the Eden Gardens on Tuesday, gave the historic stadium a thumbs down in its report.
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.
This compounds the problems for BCCI which faces a logistics nightmare. If the ICC takes all the matches away from Kolkata, the BCCI will have to find four suitable slots without disturbing the World Cup schedule and four willing centres to host these matches. Finding a venue is no big deal for the BCCI, especially as many of its affiliated units are keen to host the India-England game. Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Nagpur - which are all scheduled to host India matches - want to host an additional one. So does Ahmedabad, which will be hosting a quarterfinal. Mohali, which has been allotted a semifinal, has also made a strong pitch to host the England game.
The BCCI office-bearers are likely to meet on Monday to finalize the relocation of the Eden match.
Earlier in the day, the ICC pulled the plug on Eden Gardens. "Regrettably, Eden Gardens has not made sufficient progress to justify the level of confidence required to confirm that the venue would be ready in good time," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement. "All venues had ample time in which to prepare for World Cup matches," said Lorgat.
"We had been understanding and had provided extensions to the deadline dates but unfortunately we are now at a point where we must carefully manage our risks," he added.
The ICC decision is bound to cause intense disappointment among the cricket-crazy fans of Kolkata, 66,000 of whom were expected to fill the new-look Eden during the India-England game. The ICC move clearly took CAB bosses, who were confident of getting the stadium ready in time - CWG style - for the February 27 match, by surprise.
The ICC said concerns are mainly over "cricket operations, media, broadcast and sponsorship facilities" that were not finalized or confirmed by the CAB as hundreds of labourers have been toiling day and night to finish building two new blocks of stands which are still covered in scaffolding.
Until Thursday's ICC ruling, the CAB had been dismissive about Eden's lack of preparedness for the big occasion, with Dalmiya himself going on record on Tuesday, saying, "It appears that ICC team is happy after the inspection of the venue. The match is on 27th (Feb), we have to finish the work before the match."
On Thursday, a rattled Dalmiya lashed out at the ICC and the BCCI. Maintaining that the ground is match fit, Dalmiya termed the decision to shift the match as a "conspiracy" against Bengal cricket.
Read more: Eden Gardens loses India-England World Cup match for lack of preparations - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/world-cup-2011/news/Eden-Gardens-loses-India-England-World-Cup-match-for-lack-of-preparations/articleshow/7375066.cms#ixzz1CId39BEy
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.
This compounds the problems for BCCI which faces a logistics nightmare. If the ICC takes all the matches away from Kolkata, the BCCI will have to find four suitable slots without disturbing the World Cup schedule and four willing centres to host these matches. Finding a venue is no big deal for the BCCI, especially as many of its affiliated units are keen to host the India-England game. Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Nagpur - which are all scheduled to host India matches - want to host an additional one. So does Ahmedabad, which will be hosting a quarterfinal. Mohali, which has been allotted a semifinal, has also made a strong pitch to host the England game.
The BCCI office-bearers are likely to meet on Monday to finalize the relocation of the Eden match.
Earlier in the day, the ICC pulled the plug on Eden Gardens. "Regrettably, Eden Gardens has not made sufficient progress to justify the level of confidence required to confirm that the venue would be ready in good time," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement. "All venues had ample time in which to prepare for World Cup matches," said Lorgat.
"We had been understanding and had provided extensions to the deadline dates but unfortunately we are now at a point where we must carefully manage our risks," he added.
The ICC decision is bound to cause intense disappointment among the cricket-crazy fans of Kolkata, 66,000 of whom were expected to fill the new-look Eden during the India-England game. The ICC move clearly took CAB bosses, who were confident of getting the stadium ready in time - CWG style - for the February 27 match, by surprise.
The ICC said concerns are mainly over "cricket operations, media, broadcast and sponsorship facilities" that were not finalized or confirmed by the CAB as hundreds of labourers have been toiling day and night to finish building two new blocks of stands which are still covered in scaffolding.
Until Thursday's ICC ruling, the CAB had been dismissive about Eden's lack of preparedness for the big occasion, with Dalmiya himself going on record on Tuesday, saying, "It appears that ICC team is happy after the inspection of the venue. The match is on 27th (Feb), we have to finish the work before the match."
On Thursday, a rattled Dalmiya lashed out at the ICC and the BCCI. Maintaining that the ground is match fit, Dalmiya termed the decision to shift the match as a "conspiracy" against Bengal cricket.
Read more: Eden Gardens loses India-England World Cup match for lack of preparations - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/world-cup-2011/news/Eden-Gardens-loses-India-England-World-Cup-match-for-lack-of-preparations/articleshow/7375066.cms#ixzz1CId39BEy
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