World T20: Three empty stands led to Chepauk snub

NEW DELHI: BCCI had nothing to do with Chennai not getting a single men's match in the World T20, scheduled to be held in India in March, 2016. According to sources, ICC CEO Dave Richardson was against giving any men's fixture to Chennai because three stands at Chepauk don't have the permission to seat spectators.
Sources said the ICC representatives and the official broadcaster told the Indian board that "three vacant stands during a World T20 game would not make for good TV viewing".However, Chennai will host four women's matches.
Chennai hosted four games when ICC staged the 2011 World Cup in the sub-continent. Back then, though, all the stands were available. "This is an ICC event and the BCCI has nothing to do with the scheduling," a BCCI official told TOI on Monday.
The official said that if all the stands at the stadium had been available, the ICC would not have taken the men's games away from venue. "Chennai has a very sporting crowd and if the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association can sort out its differences with local authorities, the ICC will not hesitate to allot matches there," he said.
BCCI also made it clear that it will not allot the Ranji Trophy knock-out matches in February to the World T20 venues. Sources said Pune would stage the Ranji final, while Baroda and Cuttack (Driems University ground) would stage the two semifinals.
The quarters are likely to be played in Visakhapatnam, Ranchi, Bangalore (Alur) and Mumbai (Brabourne stadium, CCI).