ICC turns down BCCI’s request; Eden’s replacement by Jan 31

NEW DELHI - The International Cricket Council (ICC) Saturday turned down the Indian cricket board’s request to reconsider its decision of taking away the India-England World Cup match from the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata.

The ICC rejected the plea since there was no guarantee from the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) whether the stadium would be ready in time for the Feb 27 day-night game.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary N. Srinivasan told IANS that the board has now to find an alternate venue for the match.

“It was a decision taken by the ICC and we have no control over it. We did our best to back the request made by CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya, but beyond that we can’t do anything. It is the decision of ICC president Sharad Pawar and chief executive officer Haroon Lorgat,” said Srinivasan.

Asked which stadium would host the match, Srinivasan said: “The ICC hasn’t approached us on the alternate venue. And once they do, we will consult the state associations and finalise the alternate venue by January 31.”

Lorgat in an email to BCCI president Shashank Manohar said the ICC was not in a position to accommodate the last minute request from the board.

“I told him (Manohar) the ICC could not accommodate the request. There was too much of planning and too much of logistics that would be involved,” Lorgat was quoted as saying by Cricinfo.

The ICC struck-off Eden Gardens as the venue of the important India-England match following an adverse report from its venue inspection team that visited Kolkata and four other venues earlier this week to review their readiness for the big event being hosted jointly by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka from Feb 19 to April 2.

CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya, a former ICC president, had Thursday appealed to the BCCI to advise the international body to reconsider its decision.

Dalmiya, also a former BCCI president, argued that the ICC decision to take away the Feb 27 match came exactly 30 days before it was scheduled to be held.

Apart from the India-England encounter, Eden Gardens is supposed to host three other games — South Africa vs. Ireland (March 15), the Netherlands vs. Ireland (March 18), and Zimbabwe vs. Kenya (March 20).