Feroz Shah Kotla semifinal was allotted to Bangalore; only logistics saved Delhi from axe

International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Shashank Manohar, who is also the BCCI president, in an email had informed top officials of the organising committee of the decision to move the semifinal to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

However, ICC CEO Dave Richardson stepped in because shifting of the venue could be possible only if teams give the green signal. The only reason why the DDCA was given another day to obtain necessary clearance was because the ICC wanted to eliminate the possibility of one of potential semifinalists being fatigued because they would have to travel from Delhi — the last Group 1 game between South Africa and Sri Lanka is being played at the Kotla on March 28 — to Bangalore to play the last four game in less than 48 hours.

“The match had been shifted to Bangalore on Tuesday. But the ICC’s CEO Dave Richardson said that the teams would have to be consulted before the match was shifted. Moreover, no team would have wanted to put themselves in a scenario where they would have to play, travel and then play, that too a semifinal match,” a source close to the development told The Indian Express on Wednesday. It is only after Richardson expressed his apprehension that teams will be unhappy about having to travel on the eve of the semifinal did the ICC, which had no option, decided to extend the deadline for the DDCA to get clearances for the RP Mehra stand by a day.

The ICC was unhappy because tickets for the 2,200 seats in the stand could not be sold for the semifinal and sponsor hoardings could not be installed. The ICC was also worried because the empty stand would be an eyesore during telecast of the semifinal.

READ: DDCA misses ICC deadline for semi-final, Bengaluru likely back-up option

The uncertainty of the Feroz Shah Kotla hosting the semifinals arose after justice (retired) Mukul Mudgal appointed by the High Court to oversee preparations at the DDCA, directed the association “to not sell tickets for the block” and use it only for the broadcasters and media.

Earlier this month, a High Court bench “refused to take up the issue” of the RP Mehra block, observing that the question of clearance from the Archeological Survey of India was “between the DDCA and the authorities.”

The association had got the NOC and occupancy certificate from the SDMC but it didn’t cover the RP Mehra block, which has a capacity of 2,200 and is also used by the media and host broadcasters for coverage and telecast. It was only on Wednesday evening that the DDCA got clearance from the South Delhi Municipal Corporation for the ‘RP Mehra block to be put to use’ following which justice Mudgal gave his nod.

READ: High Court ask DDCA to deal with ICC on their own