By: Tarish Bhatt
To find a solution to Eden Gardens’ poor drainage problem, the newly appointed president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), Sourav Ganguly, is likely to meet the chairman of the BCCI ground and pitches committee chairman Daljit Singh in Kolkata on Saturday.
According to the sources, the state association got into the act after the third and final T20 match between India and South Africa was a wash-out on October 8 due to lack of proper drainage system.
The wash-out turned out to be big deal after little less than an hour of rain in the early afternoon on October 8. It matted little in the series, for it had been pocked by South Africa with a 2-0 margin.
“Another other venue would have hosted a game after such a short spell of rain in the afternoon. And in recent years, lot of matches have been cancelled and this venue’s track record is appalling,” a source insisted.
Right now, CAB is particularly worried because the Eden Gardens is supposed to host the final of the World T20 early next year. With such a poor drainage system, it can’t possibly host a match and so Ganguly is taking big initiatives to ensure that the World T20 final doesn’t go anywhere else.
The state association doesn’t want a repeat of the 2011 World Cup at home. That time, the India-England match was moved out of Kolkata due to lack of preparation.
Sources also said that the International Cricket Council (ICC) team will be visiting the Eden Gardens this December to inspect the stadium. Before that, CAB wants its ground to initiate certain actions.
With not much time left to next year’s event both CAB and BCCI might be forced to change the top-deck of the outfield to make the drainage system better.
