Wankhede ODI shifted to Brabourne Stadium: Citing financial constraints, the venue of the fourth ODI vs Windies has been changed.
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In which has come as yet another change in the schedule for the upcoming ODI series against Windies, the teams will now play the fourth ODI on October 29 at Brabourne Stadium (Cricket Club of India) instead of Wankhede Stadium.
First ODI after a dozen years
The Brabourne Stadium had last hosted an international match in 2009, a Test match where Virender Sehwag had scored an awe-inspiring 293 against Sri Lanka. It’s last ODI can be dated back to the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 between Australia and West Indies.
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It is worth mentioning over here that the change in schedule has happened for the second time in the ODI series. Earlier, the second ODI was shifted from Indore to Visakhapatnam. Apparently, both the venues have been changed due to same quarrel between the BCCI and the state association.
After having its say in Indore, the issue of complimentary tickets created a fuss in Mumbai as well. According to the latest amendments, the state association has to give a certain number of tickets to the BCCI as complementary passes. It was this number which didn’t let both the entities come to a compromise.
Complimentary tickets becomes an issue
“We haven’t taken any decision so far. But 600 tickets just won’t be enough for us. We need 7,000 tickets because we need to give them to all our (330) club members, donors, Government of Maharashtra, police, fire brigade, sports department, PWD,” an MCA source had told TOI on Monday.
The current absence of a head at the MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association) had also made matters worse for them. The COA-appointed committee had retired on September 15. In such a situation, the association had no one to sign the cheques for conducting the match.
“We had to request the BCCI to clear the bill. We have to pay property tax and the electricity bill too. When we host an international match, we have to float tenders for in-stadia advertisements, generator sets, and so many other things. There are so many payments to be done to various agencies. Who will sign the cheques now?” the MCA official who chose to be anonymous further added.
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The ODI series will begin on October 21 with the first match to be played at Guwahati.
Below are some of the recent tweets regarding West Indies’ tour of India: