Hyderabad Express Inability To Host Two Pakistan Matches In World Cup, One Other Game; Requests BCCI To Reschedule Fixtures

The World Cup schedule has already undergone nine changes but HCA still wants as many as three matches, including one warm-up clash, to be reconsidered by BCCI.

Babar Azam. (Source: Twitter)

The ICC ODI World Cup 2023 is already off to stuttering start. Firstly, the schedule for the tournament was announced very late. And right after it was announced, three member board of ICC wrote to BCCI to make some changes. It took BCCI-ICC a long time to fix the schedule. India Vs Pakistan clash on October 15 was shifted to October 14 as well as Pakistan vs England fixture on November 12. That match will now be played on November 11. These two modifications led to seven more changes. 

With World Cup less than one month to go, another change in the schedule has been sought. Hyderabad Cricket Association has reportedly written an email to BCCI requesting reconsideration of a warm-up match that Rajiv Gandhi stadium is to host on September 29. That match is between Pakistan and New Zealand. 

HCA has written that security agencies have expressed their inability to provide needed security for this match due to festivals. A hindu festival, Ganesh Visarjan and a muslim festival, Milan-Un-Nabi, fall on September 28th. Earlier, the India vs Pakistan clash was rescheduled to October 14 because on October 15 is the first day of Navratri festival, which is celebrated in a grand manner in Gujarat. Likewise, the Pakistan vs England at Kolkata was rescheduled due to Durga Puja celebrations.

The Hyderabad Police has also reminded HCA of their inability to provide security for October 9 and 10 games. On October 9, Pakistan play Sri Lanka at Rajiv Gandhi stadium followed by match between New Zealand and Netherlands. The Police had told HCA that they won't be able to make arrangements for back to back matches as the Pakistani team will be requiring more force. As many as 3,000 police personnel will be deployed for the Pakistani team alone, says the report. Hyderabad Police say that they won't be able to provide adequate security for two back to back matches for the same reason.

The World Cup has seen many hurdles. Besides the schedule, ticketing system has also troubled the fans who have to stay in queues online to book tickets for more than aday before they are told they tickets have been sold out. BCCI faces a big challenge to turn things around and ready a world class cricket tournament. Let's see if more hurdles come their way before and after October 5 when the tournament kicks off.