NEW DELHI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Monday officially turned down the request of the Hyderabad Cricket Association for a change in the schedule of the upcoming World Cup.
The HCA had appealed to the BCCI for a change in schedule after the local police authorities expressed their reservations about deploying adequate personnel on back-to-back match days.
“BCCI secretary Jay Shah held a meeting with HCA officials in Delhi after the Asia Cup team selection meeting [for which the secretary is convenor] and the state unit was categorically told that no changes would be entertained after a revised schedule was issued on August 9,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.
BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla had already indicated on Sunday that “changes (to the schedule) were unlikely.”
The World Cup schedule, which was first released on June 27 in Mumbai amidst fanfare, went through a lot of changes with dates and timings of as many as nine games, including the marquee India-Pakistan clash.
The Indo-Pak match was originally scheduled for Oct 15, but the game was advanced by a day because it was slotted on the first day of Navratra.
This particular change in schedule led to Pakistan’s game against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad being advanced by a day from Oct 11 to 10. Hyderabad is also due to host Netherlands’ game against New Zealand on Oct 9 and local police officials had asked for at least a day’s gap between the two games.
“I can’t say it would be changed for sure but back-to-back games are not ideal,” an official of the HCA was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times on Sunday. “We will have to work with security agencies. Anyone would want a day in between two World Cup games. We are still engaging with security agencies to see if it is possible or not. At the same time we are also keeping BCCI in the loop. The BCCI is completely aware of what we are trying to do.”
However, that would have meant slotting the New Zealand-Netherlands game on Oct 8, creating distress for the teams and their plans for training sessions.
New Zealand are playing England in the opening game on Oct 5 in Ahmedabad and will fly to Hyderabad the following day, which means they would have just one training session on Oct 7 if that game was moved forward.
Netherlands open their campaign against Pakistan on Oct 6 in Hyderabad and advancement by a day meant that Oct 7 would go in recovery and next day they would be playing again and neither ICC or the two boards would have agreed to this request.
Sri Lanka will travel to Hyderabad on Oct 8, after having played a day-night match in Delhi on Oct 7, against South Africa.
ESPNCricinfo reported on Monday that the HCA has relayed the BCCI’s message to the Hyderabad Police, who have now assured that adequate security will be provided to all four teams.
The HCA has also got the nod from the BCCI to let both Pakistan and Sri Lanka to train at the Gymkhana Ground in Secunderabad ahead of their clash. The HCA was understood to have been unsure as to whether all four teams can get adequate practice at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2023
