The Mumbai Cricket Association has reportedly asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India to conduct the October 29 India versus West Indies One-Day International match at the Wankhede Stadium because of financial constraints.
An MCA official, who requested anonymity, told PTI that the association is unable to operate its bank account after the Bombay High Court-appointed Committee of Administrators for the body relinquished their charge on September 14. Since then, there is no clarity on who would operate the bank account.
The CoA was appointed in April this year to amend the MCA constitution and conduct elections in accordance with the Justice Lodha committee recommendations.
“Senior MCA officials and a few managing committee members on Thursday met a top BCCI official,” the MCA official told PTI. “They again cited the difficulties, especially the financial constrains for the association, for hosting the game. They asked the BCCI to conduct the game and assured that MCA would help it in all possible ways.”
Asked what they meant by asking the BCCI to conduct the match, the official said, “It means the BCCI will float tender notices for various [match-related] works.” The official added that the BCCI has assured the MCA that it was working to resolve the matter.
A host of state associations had also raised objections to the new rule stipulated by the BCCI’s CoA stating that only 10% of tickets are to kept complimentary and 90% should be released for public viewing. The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association gave up their hosting rights for the second India-West Indies ODI and the match was moved to Visakhapatnam.
The Cricket Association of Bengal was also unhappy with the arrangement after which it was decided that the membership tickets will not be counted in the 10% category. The BCCI also decided to forego 600 out of 1,200 passes.
The third T20 International between India and West Indies scheduled in Chennai on November 4 will be held as per schedule after the CoA accepted the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’s request of sticking to the old formula on complimentary tickets.
With inputs from PTI
