Kolkata, Nov 01
The opening T20I against Bangladesh can’t be cancelled at the last minute despite deteriorating air quality in the capital, said BCCI president Sourav Ganguly but dropped hints that north India venues may not be considered for matches after Diwali in future.
“It’s too late to do anything, because a lot of preparations go into matches like tickets, crowds everything. So it’s not possible to cancel things at the last minute. Fingers crossed,” Ganguly said.
The newly-elected BCCI boss said in future they would be more “practical”. “We have spoken to the Delhi authorities in the last two days.
They’re expecting the match to go through. The match was already scheduled so we couldn’t cancel it at the last minute because we came in on October 23. I know post-Diwali it’s a bit tough in the north India. I hope everything goes fine.
I spoke to the groundsmen and they said once the sun comes out, it’ll be fine,” he added.
Sachin, Anand, Sania likely
Legendary Sachin Tendulkar along with the chess wizard Viswanathan Anand and tennis ace Sania Mirza are likely to grace India’s first ever Day/Night Test against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens from November 22 to Novemver 26.
Already Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given her consent to the BCCI and will be attending the first day’s proceedings. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also been sent an invite. “We will felicitate the players of the first Test when India played Bangladesh. We want to make sure that everybody is available,” Ganguly said.
