Pawar play changes equation

Interestingly,Pawar and Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Jagmohan Dalmiya have,in the past,fought bitter battles to control Indian cricket.

On Friday,Pawar said that the final decision about the venue would be made some time next week. “We have to take a call if the game will be held in Kolkata or it will be moved to Bangalore. I have asked the ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat to submit a report on January 30 after talks with ICC member countries,especially England,if it was possible to move the deadline for the completion of work at the Eden Gardens to February 7,” Pawar said at the sidelines of a function at the Indian Institute of Pulses Research in Kanpur.

In an effort to save India’s only game at Eden,Dalmiya on Thursday had made a request to the BCCI president to take up the issue with the ICC. “We confirm that we will hand over a completed Eden Gardens to the ICC on February 7. We request the ICC to elaborate on the specific requirements to ensure that we hand over the venue by February 7,” Dalmiya had written to Manohar.

Pawar’s comments on Friday were welcomed at the CAB headquarters with the association joint-secretary Biswarup Dey exuding confidence. “We have full faith in the BCCI and we are confident of hosting the match as per schedule,” Dey told The Indian Express.

Bangalore is ready to host the India-England tie so are a couple of other centres like Chennai and Delhi. Dalmiya has even spoken to the DDCA chief Arun Jaitley about a possible swap with Feroz Shah Kotla hosting the India-England match and Eden in turn getting the India versus Holland encounter.

Logistical nightmare

But the switch can prove to be a logistical nightmare. More than 12,000 fans have already bought tickets online for the February 27 match at Eden Gardens and a group of 2000 England supporters have reportedly threatened to sue the ICC if they don’t reinstate the match in Kolkata. “A relocation of the match will completely upset our travel plans,” said one of them.