Credit: Twitter
The Hyderabad Cricket Association had raised concerns over hosting two World Cup matches on consecutive days, as they had doubts about their capability to provide sufficient security at and around the venue. But the request to reschedule has been rejected by the BCCI on Monday, according to reports.
Hyderabad was granted two World Cup games on consecutive days, October 9 and 10, and the HCA administration considered this an unfavourable circumstance considering the security measures in place. The Netherlands and New Zealand are slated to play in Hyderabad on October 9, with Pakistan and Sri Lanka playing the very next day. Both games are scheduled to be day/night games.
Talking about the issue, Durga Prasad, a part of the crew appointed by the Supreme Court, told Cricbuzz, "We have engaged in discussions with the BCCI, and they have indicated that changing the schedule is not feasible at this point. Therefore, we have concurred to collaborate. He also added that the city’s police commissioner has guaranteed the full assistance of the police during the event.
This means that the World Cup will follow the original schedule, which was announced on August 9 by the ICC. The schedule has already been altered once, after the Gujarat Cricket Association and Cricket Association of Bengal raised similar security issues due to Navratri and Kali Puja, respectively.
It is uncommon for the same location to host consecutive World Cup games, but the HCA official stated that the organisation will make every effort to ensure event-free games in the hopes that the close proximity of the games won't influence attendance.
The Men in Blue will start their World Cup campaign on October 8, against five-time champions Australia in Chennai. Their next game, however, will be against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 14 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. As the tournament will be played in a round-robin format, each team will play nine games, and the top four teams will qualify for the knockouts. The final of the marquee event is scheduled for November 19 in Ahmedabad.
