Hudhud Impact: BCCI silent on fate of third ODI
It has also been learned that the Delhi and District Cricket Association declined a BCCI offer to host a second successive ODI due to uncertainty about the Visakhapatnam game, even as the Board remained mum on the issue.
Confusion over the fate of the third India-West Indies One-Day International scheduled in the Cyclone Hudhudaffected coastal city of Visakhapatnam on Tuesday with some people insisting the match has been cancelled.
It has also been learned that the Delhi and District Cricket Association declined a BCCI offer to host a second successive ODI due to uncertainty about the Visakhapatnam game, even as the Board remained mum on the issue.
While the Visakhapatnam airport has currently barred landing of flights, forcing the Indian and the West Indian teams to stay put in New Delhi after the second match at the Kotla here on Saturday, the BCCI media manager said on Sunday evening that he was awaiting instructions from the Board.
BCCI sources said that in view of the diminishing chances of the ODI being played in Visakhapatnam, the BCCI on Saturday offered Delhi to host the match but the DDCA did not grab the opportunity. The series could now consist of four matches.
"When it was becoming increasingly evident that the cyclone wouldn't allow the match to be staged in Visakhapatnam, the BCCI on Saturday made the offer to the DDCA," a BCCI source told MAIL TODAY.
"The BCCI even gave the DDCA the option of staging the ODI either on Tuesday or Friday, the day the fourth match is to be played in Dharamsala. But the DDCA didn't take the offer, possibly because it wouldn't have been possible for it to get the mandatory permissions from the police and other agencies at such short notice, particularly due to Diwali approaching."
While the Indian team's media manager RN Baba said the BCCI hasn't "informed the team" about the fate of the Visakhapatnam game, another source said insurance was the "real reason" why the Board was not formally announcing the cancellation of the ODI.
"BCCI insures all series played at home. There's a condition that if it declares a match cancelled, the Board would not be able to claim insurance money. A match has to be declared 'abandoned' due to natural reasons for the BCCI to stake a claim," the source told MAIL TODAY. "Therefore, it's only natural for the BCCI to show that it was not the Board that cancelled the match. The Board might also try to send the teams to Visakhapatnam and broadcasters might install their equipment at the stadium to show that the cancellation was only due to a natural disaster, so that it could claim insurance money," he explained.
The source cited the example of the India-Australia ODI that was to be played in Cuttack in October last year, but was cancelled only after the teams reached there and umpires declared the ground unfit for play due to heavy rains for the previous five days. "It was done strategically," he said.
Baba said the teams are still in Delhi and a flight has been booked at 12.55 pm on Monday. Later in the evening, he said the flight has been cancelled.
"Both teams are staying back in Delhi tomorrow. We don't know about the match. The BCCI will issue a press release tomorrow. We don't know what call they are going to take. Officially, they [BCCI] haven't informed us anything," Baba told MAIL TODAY.
A functionary of the Andhra Cricket Association said that the Dr. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium was unaffected by the cyclone as the pitch and the outfield was well covered. "The only problem is teams, which haven't reached here," he said.