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Hopes dashed, Mohali stadium won’t be hosting any World Cup tie
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) stadium in Dharamsala will be hosting five matches, including India versus New Zealand on October 22. This will be for the first time that Dharamsala will host a World Cup game.
Fans in the region were a disappointed lot as the PCA Stadium in Mohali missed out on the chance to host any of the matches in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, the schedule for which was announced on Tuesday. The only option for fans now is to either go to Delhi or Dharamsala to watch the matches live.
It indeed was a setback as the PCA Stadium had earlier hosted the marquee games in 1996 and 2011 World cups - semifinals. It also hosted the 2016 World Cup T20 quarter finals between India and Australia.
The World Cup begins in India with England taking on New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5 to November 19.
Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) stadium in Dharamsala will be hosting five matches, including India versus New Zealand on October 22. This will be for the first time that Dharamsala will host a World Cup game.
A few months ago, the BCCI had conveyed to the PCA to get their Mullanpur stadium ready, where construction had started in 2016, before World Cup. But the state body had failed to complete the stadium within the deadline. Also, the fact that the PCA management saw a change in guard thrice in the last two years slowed down construction pace of the Mullanpur stadium.
Reacting to the development, India’s legendary cricketer and PCA’s chief advisor Harbhajan Singh said, “PCA will talk to the BCCI on this. But as a cricketer I am disappointed to see Mohali missing out on the World Cup schedule list. It was PCA which hosted the India-Pakistan semi-final world cup tie in 2011 and the whole world had their eyes on the stadium. It is one of the most memorable games of all time.”
The 45-league matches and the three knockouts will be played in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune over a span of 46 days. Before the tournament begins, the teams will play warm-up matches in Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati between September 29 and October 3.
Discrimination against state: Punjab minister
Miffed with BCCI giving cold shoulder to PCA, Punjab sports minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer described the move as being motivated by political reasons. He alleged this is open discrimination against Punjab. “I condemn this. Apart from the opening and final matches, Ahmedabad also gets to host the India-Pakistan match. But for Mohali, there is no game. The Mohali stadium is not just one of the top five stadiums in India but is also considered one of the prominent stadiums in the world. Discrimination against Punjab will not be tolerated at any cost.”
He later added that the state government, led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann, will raise this issue of this discrimination with the BCCI.
