The second ODI between India and West Indies, scheduled for October 24, could be shifted away from Indore. This is the potential outcome of a tussle over complimentary-ticket allocation between the BCCI and the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA).
The disagreement concerns the Holkar Stadium’s pavilion block, which according to the MPCA has a capacity of “close to 7200 seats”. By the state association’s reading of the BCCI’s new constitution, the provision of complimentary tickets cannot exceed 10% “of each category” – which in the pavilion block’s case would be 720.
The MPCA, however, has alleged that the BCCI asked for “about 1300” complimentary tickets in the pavilion block, “for various sections of BCCI stakeholders like sponsors, teams, BCCI members, BCCI sub-committee etc.”
“The managing committee of MPCA has decided that it is not possible to organise the second ODI between India and West Indies in Indore if BCCI doesn’t back down from it’s demand of complimentary tickets. We have intimated BCCI,” MCA joint-secretary Milind Kanmadikar told PTI on Sunday.
According to the MPCA, the BCCI has repeatedly delayed responding to its requests for clarification of the issue, and has therefore left it with too little time to organise the match, and with no option but to step away from hosting it.
“In the end, we clarify once again that our intent was always to organise the match and we were forced to land in a situation where the time left henceforth for the match would have resulted in several circumstantial difficulties for which the host Association would have been unfairly held responsible,” the MPCA’s statement said. “Such big risk is not worth in view of the inordinate delay on part of BCCI on extending clarification and fair decision making.
“The unilateral, arbitrary, mysterious and leisurely decision making and working of BCCI has caused such huge loss to Association and the local cricket fans of our State.”
The BCCI is yet to respond to ESPNcricinfo’s request for a statement on the issue.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo