City to host four warm-up games including India-England tie
KOLKATA: The people of Guwahati might be discontent after the city missed out on a World Cup game of the 50-over extravaganza scheduled in October-November this year, but Devajit Saikia, the current Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) joint secretary is pleased that the city will get to host four official warm-up matches.
Guwahati is among three cities that will host the warm-up matches from September 29-October 3 and it will play hosts to the marquee India-England tie ahead of the final round slated to start from October 5.
"I am happy that Guwahati and people of northeast will get to see four very good practice matches. Guwahati has hosted some very good matches recently - international as well as IPL games. And in future Guwahati will host a lot of good matches. Till this BCCI panel came in office, Guwahati was never on ICC radar in respect to the World Cup matches but now it's gaining relevance and importance. Thanks to the current (BCCI) body, it's a great thing for the venue (ACA Stadium)," an elated Saikia, also the former Assam Cricket Association (ACA) secretary told TOI from Guwahati.
"We hope in the coming years and future World Cups (to be held) in India, Guwahati will host main round matches for sure. These warm-up matches will give us a chance to showcase our credentials as a host," added Saikia.
As per the tentative schedule, which is yet to be officially announced by International Cricket Council (ICC), Bangladesh will play a Qualifier at Barsapara Cricket Stadium on September 29, followed by India vs England tie the next day. On October 2 England will take on Bangladesh while the last match is likely to be between Afghanistan and a Qualifier on October 3. All the matches are likely to be day-night affairs.
Asked what would be the likely reasons behind Guwahati missing the bus for World Cup main-round matches, Saikia said, "ICC gives go-ahead for maximum 6-8 venues in every World Cup but since India is a big country, BCCI had shortlisted 12 venues including two venues for warm-up games. Final decision lies with ICC and they take into consideration security, logistics and all. In a country like us logistics is very important since two venues could be 3000-4000km apart. It's good that ICC agreed to keep 10 venues for World Cup games taking into account all these factors."
"Moreover, even if Guwahati was selected as a main venue, it's unlikely that we would have got many matches or an India game. I think hosting four good warm-games involving teams like England and Bangladesh apart from India will be better than getting a not so high-voltage match," added Saikia before signing off.
