Haroon Lorgat brushes aside BCCI’s request of overturning Kolkata decision
In a defining move, the Chief Executive of the International Cricket Council http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750-England World Cup game from the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, despite a
request by the governing body of the game in India - the richest and most affluent cricket board in the world - Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The match was moved outside Kolkata after the organizers at the venue failed to complete the re-construction and uplifting of the stadium in time for the match. The ICC had extended the dead-line twice before and they decided to put their
foot down and deprive the biggest stadium in the world of its most sought after match of the 42 day extravaganza.
The Cricket Association of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bengal-c771 is bitterly disappointed at the decision and approached the BCCI to help them get the game back, yet it seems that the ICC is not going to budge.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shashank-Manohar-c89791 of the BCCI wrote to Lorgat, however the Chief Executive confirmed that he could not alter the decision which was based on a principled stance.
"I told him the ICC could not accommodate the request," Lorgat told media. "There was too much of planning and too much of logistics that would be involved," concluded the administrator who hails from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757.
The venue has lost its most sought after match and now would have to contend with hosting three matches involving the minnows of the game.
The three matches are - http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kenya-c752 – and it is not clear yet if the CAB would be allowed to host those matches at the Eden Gardens.
Lorgat has conveyed to the BCCI and the CAB that the governing body of the game would not be not be holding further inspections of the venue.
They have given the onus to the BCCI and CAB and want them to see for themselves if the landmark venue that hosted the 1987 World Cup final between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 and England has the capability of hosting the three matches.
"The big commercial game was India v England. The other matches involve Associates, which cannot be big money spinners. It is now for the CAB to take a call and if they want to save the face, they could get the ground ready for the other
three matches," an official close to the negotiations said.
Manohar, however stressed that the ball is in the ICC’s court who are the tournament organizers, who have “every right to decide on this,".
"We've tried our best for the CAB but the final word was always going to be the ICC's." stated Manohar.
Meanwhile the rest of the cricketing world has lauded the decision by the ICC. They think that finally the most powerful cricket board in the world has been cowed down by the ICC which was often referred as a toothless tiger in the past.
The BCCI is the biggest revenue earner from them and the perception is that they control the decision making through the force of their financial muscle.
At the same time it is a pity that the World Cup would not see 100,000 spectators in full motion, many cricketers rave about the games that they play at the Eden Gardens which is the loudest, and most exciting cricket venue in the world
especially when full.
Some enthralling games have taken place there over the years, and the World Cup would be a little less vibrant without the venue.
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