Eden Gardens and the Wankhede, venues mired in controversy during the World Cup, received a windfall on Saturday when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) allotted them international matches aplenty in the season ahead.
The Wankhede here will host one of the five ODIs against England and a Test against the West Indies, the first in more than five years. The stadium had hosted the Word Cup final without hosting any first-class matches to test the wicket.
Kolkata's Eden Gardens, which had its only India match in the World Cup shifted to Bangalore because of delay in stadium renovation, will host an ODI and the lone T20I against England in October and a Test against the West Indies later.
The BCCI bigwigs, who finalised the venues for the nine home international fixtures (one T20I and five ODIs against England and three Tests against the West Indies) during the meeting of its tour, programme and fixtures committee, thus kept the promise they made to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) when the Eden missed out on hosting India's World Cup tie against England.
It was decided then that as compensation, the Eden would be allotted an ODI and a T20I. No wonder CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya will have no reason to complain.
{{/usCountry}}It was decided then that as compensation, the Eden would be allotted an ODI and a T20I. No wonder CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya will have no reason to complain.
{{/usCountry}}Move welcomed
“Of course this is a good move. Last time we were deprived of our due match against England," Dalmiya said, after the meeting. "At the time of the World Cup they (BCCI) wanted to find a solution and decided to give us two matches as compensation, a T20 and an ODI. Now, we have got the Test too. We are happy."
Kolkata has also been awarded a huge chunk of the third edition of the Champions League T20 to be played from Sept 23 to Oct 6. While the BCCI did not make an announcement, a source at the CAB said the Eden is set to host six matches. Bangalore and Chennai are the other venues.
Kolkata Knight Riders will get to play at their home ground only if they manage to get past the qualifying tournament, which will be held in Hyderabad from September 19 to 21. The Knight Riders finished fourth in IPL 4 and thus missed a direct berth to CLT20.