Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium may not host any of the India matches when the ICC World Twenty20 is hosted in the country between March 11 and April 3 next year. The famed Eden Gardens in Kolkata will host the final match of the tournament.
There's no official reason been given yet over why Chennai could lose out on an India match but it is very likely that the stadium may be compensated with two World T20 matches not involving India. Apart from India matches, Chennai will also not host any of the matches involving Sri Lanka, given the political scenario in the state and the Tamil-Sinhala conflict.
BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur admitted that there were problems with the stadium in Chennai because of which the listing of World T20 venues had to be kept pending. “We have not ruled out Chennai (as a venue).The only issue is which matches can be played in Chennai. There are certain limitations - can't play Sri Lanka there, three stands are not complete and you can't keep Indian fans away from those stands,” said the BCCI secretary. Thakur, however, did not go into the specifics of whether Chennai would get to host the Indian team.
The BCCI has not kept any venues on standby for the tournament as all eight centres originally listed during the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in Barbados are being included in the itinerary. Delhi, a major venue that is currently in a messy state of affairs over tax-related issues with the state government, could also miss out on a World T20 game.
There is no confirmation yet over the number of venues that have been shortlisted for the tournament. “We held a detailed discussion. There were certain centres which were given deadlines of August 25 to submit completion reports and we are still waiting for their certificates,” Thakur said.
As of now, Mumbai, Kolkata, Nagpur, Chennai, Mohali, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune, Rajkot, Hyderabad and Dharamsala are the venues that have been marked down as the potential venues.
“There are many things to be considered before allocating matches. That's why the meeting was held, to find out which are the right venues and how we can organise a successful tournament,” Thakur said, adding that the details will be sent to the ICC soon for approval after which the fixtures will be released. The BCCI has gone past the deadline to finalise the tournament venues.
