Ending days of intense speculation and turmoil, the BCCI has decided to shift the fourth match of the upcoming five-match India-Windies ODI series from the Wankhede Stadium to the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
The Brabourne, which is managed by the Cricket Club of India, will be hosting an international game after the 2009 Test match against Sri Lanka.
Controversy regarding the complimentary tickets
The initial host of this match was the Wankhede Stadium, which is just a few miles away from the Brabourne Stadium. However, the Wankhede has been in the midst of a controversy owing to the issue of complimentary tickets.
There was a deadlock between the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and the BCCI. The MCA was rigid in its stance over the quota of tickets that was being offered by the BCCI (600). Things ended in a stalemate and this decision had to be taken.
"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, the government of Maharashtra, police, fire brigade, sports department and PWD," an MCA source had told TOI on Monday.
This is not an isolated incident around the allotment of complimentary tickets as earlier this month, the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association had hit out at the BCCI for deviating from the stipulated norms. The associations in Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have all earlier expressed their reservations against the same, and thus the situation was extremely complicated for the BCCI.
"The managing committee of MPCA has decided that it is not possible to organise the second ODI between India and West Indies in Indore if BCCI doesn't back down from its demand of complimentary tickets. We have intimated BCCI," MCA joint secretary Milind Kanmadikar had told PTI during the impasse.
The ODI series gets underway on October 21 with the first game to be played in Guwahati at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium. The Indore match has also been shifted to Vishakhapatnam.
