New Delhi: Just a week after BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced that the 2023 ODI World Cup schedule will be altered due to complaints from "several Full Member countries" regarding the tournament's fixture, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may be in for yet another headache. The competition will start in India on October 5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, according to the long-awaited schedule released by BCCI and ICC exactly one month prior to these recent developments.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) requested that the ICC recce team change the date of the World Cup match between Pakistan and England on November 12 because the match will fall on Kali Puja, according to a report on Saturday.
It will take place almost a fortnight after the Durga Puja is over and is the second biggest festival in West Bengal. A sizable police deployment will be stationed throughout the city to maintain law and order situation as thousands of local clubs in Kolkata are expected to organize events on Kali Puja, making it impossible to deploy a separate lot for Eden Gardens duty.
Snehasish Ganguly, the president of the CAB, denied that the board requested a change in the schedule from the ICC, but senior members told PTI that Kolkata Police had brought up a security concern.
"Kolkata Police has cited concerns to provide security for the match slated on Diwali. We have informed the ICC and BCCI to reschedule it and if it does not happen we would inform this to the the chief minister," a senior CAB office-bearer, who was part of the meeting with the 17-member ICC and BCCI inspection team, said.
The CAB chief actually kept quiet about the situation and chose to wait for official confirmation before bringing it up with the ICC.
"We have not yet got anything officially from the Kolkata Police," Snehasish, elder brother of former BCCI president and India captain Sourav Ganguly, said. "Unless we get something officially, we can't inform the ICC. Security issue is being taken care of by the Kolkata Police. That is not our look-out. As I said, we have not got anything officially, if we get anything we will inform ICC."
The report also stated that a few top CAB officials had paid a "courtesy call" to the Lalbazar headquarters of the Kolkata Police a few days prior. Snehasish described it as such.
"We went to Kolkata Police for a courtesy visit two days ago, we had a discussion with them. The schedule, plan and how we are preparing the stadium were discussed," he said.
Also Read: India's Batting Struggles Continue, Tail-End Vulnerability Evident
In the meantime, according to a report, CAB has already requested that the England-Pakistan match be moved from November 12 to November 11, a move that was made after Kolkata Police informed CAB that they anticipate stepping up security for the Pakistan match.
Many Full Member nations of the ICC had written to the board requesting a change in schedule due to logistical difficulties, the BCCI secretary had confirmed last week.
"There is a possibility there could be few changes in the schedule" Shah had said after a BCCI meeting in Delhi. "Several Full Member countries have written in requesting to change two or three dates in the schedule. We are working out with the ICC, and we should be able to clear it in two or three days."
The highly anticipated match between India and Pakistan in Ahmedabad is one of the major World Cup events that will change dates. According to reports, because it will be the first day of Navratri on the matchday, October 15, local police won't be able to provide sufficient security.
Dismissing the claims, Shah said: "If security was an issue then why would the match go there (to Ahmedabad). [October] 14-15 is not the problem. Two or three boards have written in, asking to change based on the logistical challenges. There are some matches where there is only a two-day gap, so it will be difficult to play and then travel next day [and then play again]."
Also Read: Cricketer Sarfaraz Khan Ties the Knot in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian Region