But the question to be asked here is why Bangalore?
There were a total of 8 venues in India hosting matches in the original itinerary. Out of these eight, 5 had been given 1 India match and 3 non-India matches each. These 5 are New Delhi (Ferozeshah Kotla), Kolkata (Eden Gardens), Bangalore (Chinnaswamy), Chennai (M Chidambaram) and Nagpur (VCA Jamtha).
The other 3 venues had been awarded 2 non-India matches and 1 Knock Out match each. These three venues are Ahmedabad (Sardar Patel - Quarterfinal), Mohali (PCA - Semifinal) and Mumbai (Wankhede - Finals).
This was a logical allocation rule to follow between the top-8 Test centers of India. So now that Eden Gardens' India match is out of the picture, why did Bangalore land this match? They already have their 1 India match on March 6 (India v. Ireland).
Logically, I would have thought that Ahmedabad, Mohali or Mumbai should have landed this match because they are hosting 1 match less as compared to the other venues and are not assured of hosting an India match. Before I'd heard that Bangalore might get that match, I was thinking on the lines of Mohali because it is one of India's finest cricket grounds and is not assured of hosting an India match because favourites or not, India have to reach the semifinals first to play at Mohali.
Whatsoever may be the reason, shifting this match to Bangalore has perplexed me a bit. It would be nice if BCCI were to come up with an explanation and a reasoning as to why was Bangalore recommended over other venues. But then, this is BCCI we are talking about! Maybe I am expecting too much!
6 comments:
Probably some behind the scenes dealing between Calcutta and Bangalore.
May be others were unwilling to make the deal Bangalore were willing to.
May be got this in exchange for a future test scheduled for Bangalore. Who knows.
Its best not to analyze the dealings of such an opaque organization as BCCI's it drives sane people insane
I guess you are right, Gol! It's best not to analyse BCCI's workings...
You know I would love if BCCI came up with an annual window for hosting teams that is honored every year.
Like they have in England, Australia and SA.
And rotate marquee venues like Calcutta, Chennai, Bombay, etc for the big ticket games. So we know that every year there will be a big game at Bombay for example on the same day.
I am not even sure what our official cricket season is for hosting teams.
May be 2 slots between Feb and October.
I don't remember but I had read a piece of suggestion in this regard of someone's blog a few months back.
The idea was that BCCI could have a "Navratri" Test at Kolkata and a "Pongal" Test at Chennai. Maybe a 3-Test series could start "Dushera" Test match at some place and end with a "Diwali" Test match.
Even though it will not be on the same dates every year, but it would make great sense as it will be held during India's holiday season.
I think Dravid too had talked about it very recently
Then it might well have been him I read... I don't remember when and where!
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