World Cup: BCCI tells Hyderabad Cricket Association  no postponement possible

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The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) requested that the calendar of the 2023 ICC World Cup be changed, but that request was officially denied on Monday by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. 

The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA)  sought the intervention of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to change the schedule as local police officials were concerned about adequate staffing on consecutive match days.  

After the Asia Cup squad selection meeting, which the secretary chairs, BCCI secretary Jay Shah met with officials from the Hyderabad Cricket Association in Delhi. “The state was categorically told that no changes would be considered after the revised schedule was announced on August 9, “a BCCI source said. 

BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla had already stated on Sunday that “changes (in the schedule) are unlikely”. 

Unveiled to much fanfare in Mumbai on June 27, the original World Cup schedule saw several changes affecting the dates and times of nine matches, including the much-anticipated clash between India and Pakistan. 

The India-Pakistan match, originally scheduled for October 15,  was postponed to October 14 as it coincided with the first day of Navratri. As a result of this change, Pakistan’s match against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad was moved from October 11 to October 10. In addition, Hyderabad was also scheduled to host a Netherlands vs. New Zealand match on October 9.  

As a result of these changes, the local police authorities recommended at least a one-day break between the two matches  in Hyderabad. 

However, this would have meant organising the New Zealand-Netherlands meeting on October 8. This would have caused a lot of stress for the teams and both  countries would not have agreed to it. New Zealand face England in the opener in Ahmedabad on October 5  and fly to Hyderabad the next day  and would have had just one training session (October 7) in that case. 

Netherlands opened the campaign against Pakistan on 6 October  in Hyderabad and the day’s progress meant that 7 October  would be reinstated and the next day played again. 

This request would not have been granted by the ICC or the two regulatory bodies (NZC and the Dutch body KNCB).

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