ICC strips Eden Gardens of World Cup match
Raising questions on the condition of Kolkata’s Eden Gardens stadium, the ICC has cancelled the India-England match of the World Cup at the venue.
The news shook the Board of Control for Cricket in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 (BCCI) as the fresh development is a source of embarrassment for the cricketing nation. The match, set for 27 February, will now be rescheduled to another yet undecided venue. Inspection of the stadium
by an ICC team led to the ruling that the Kolkata venue was not ready for the match.
“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” explained http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Haroon-Lorgat-c61719, the ICC chief executive, in a statement. The chief was clear that below
par arrangements could not be tolerated. He also stressed that the extremely sad decision was not taken irrationally, as “rules are rules and they need to be followed”.
Eden Gardens stadium is to host another three encounters during the World Cup. The decision whether to play those matches there, remains a question. The ICC may be seen as trying not to jump to the conclusion. The final decision may be taken after further
inspections.
The news also vindicates the India media reports that the stadium was not ready to host a World Cup fixture, though the BCCI officials kept on saying no potential work remained to be done. The ICC’s jolt may prompt India to increase the pace of renovation
work considerably to save the other three matches. The Indian media had particularly accused the BCCI of insufficient preparations for the venues to be cleared. The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 stadium, however, has been cleared by the ICC, much to the relief of the Indian board.
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