MUMBAI: Local organizers have made a last-ditch effort to have Kolkata's Eden Gardens reinstated as the venue for the high-profile India vs. England World Cup match. The International Cricket Council (ICC) dropped the venue Thursday after it missed the final Jan. 25 deadline but organizers have asked for an extension and promised the venue would be ready to hand over by Feb. 7. In addition to the India vs. England game on Feb. 27, Eden Gardens had been scheduled to host three other World Cup matches on March 15, 18 and 20. Kolkata's failure to have its stadium ready is the latest blow to India's ambition of showing off its growing financial clout after the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last October were blighted by shoddy construction, dirty housing and organizational blunders. Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President Jagmohan Dalmiya has sent a letter to India's board (BCCI) asking it to contact the ICC to request the extension and to get specifics on the ICC's concerns. “If these details are conveyed to us with immediate effect, we would ensure that all of these requirements are met by the suggested specified deadline of Feb. 7,” Dalmiya wrote in the letter. “We will take cognizance of all the ICC's concerns pertaining to ‘cricketing, broadcast, media, sponsor hospitality and tickets requirements', which are reasonable, if we are allowed the extended deadline of 10 days. “Finally, we also state that we will address the bulk of the ICC concerns by Jan. 31 itself and the remaining little, if any, in another seven days.” An ICC committee report approved three Sri Lanka venues — Colombo, Hambantota and Pallekele — and Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, the venue for the final, subject to minor finishing work being completed within 14 days. “There's no change to the situation from yesterday,” an ICC representative told Reuters. The decision was greeted Thursday with dismay in India and prompted calls to give arguably the country's most famous ground another chance. “We all were looking forward to this match. We all were dying to see a renovated Eden Gardens which was already looking so beautiful,” former India batsman Arun Lal, now a commentator, told Reuters. “Every cricket fan, every Kolkatan will be devastated by this.” Nearly 100,000 people screaming at the top of their voices make Eden Gardens one of the most atmospheric cricket grounds in the world. “Is there no chance of this decision being reversed? I am just hoping that they can reconcile,” Lal said.
