Easter ode to Eden

The World Cup meanders on, one exciting match, but most of the exciting action is happening in India. The BCCI were very responsible yesterday and today by retaining Dravid as captain and making people like Ravi Shastri coach, since he is closely linked with Indian cricket, is a respected critique of it, and will now have the opportunity to contribute to it directly. Whether by selecting a "young side" for the Bangladesh tour, the BCCI mean dropping Sachin, Sourav and Harbhajan we'll have to wait and see.

But today, on this Holy weekend for 2 billion people around the world, I want to address a different issue of the BCCI. Some time last year, the Subcontinent won the bid to host the 2011 World Cup. This was a great source of joy to all of us who may be there at the time and get to watch cricket's next flagship event. Some time in July last year, BCCI secretary Modi suggested that the Finals would be played in a brand-new stadium built in Delhi. That of course excited a lot of people, especially me, as I feel India's Capital needs a world-class and Big cricket venue. This would be the best opportunity and would also showcase India's Capital a year after it hosts the Commonwealth Games. All in all, it would be great for Indian cricket and the World Cup in general. The statement Modi made was very categorical and hopeful.

However, in December the BCCI back-tracked, as is so common these days, and said that the Finals would be hosted in Mumbai. That's one of the most disastrous things I've heard in my life. Since Pawar has come to power, virtually all international cricket matches played in India have been played in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat! What the hell has happened to the rest of India? Here and there some ODI games have been played at Goa and Jamshedpur and Guwahati, but most Test Matches of note and the Champions Trophy were played within these three states; may be a couple of games at Mohali. The rotation policy of venues seems non-existent, and even then, there are way too many venues in the fray. Sure India has 1.1 billion people and so you need to have many venues to take cricket everywhere and make everyone happy. That's fine for ODI matches for touring countries, but I still feel test matches should be circulated within 6 or 7 venues in all.

With no disrespect intended, unless they build a new stadium in Mumbai (there's no space to do so in that city), Wankhede and Brabourne are definitely not worthy of hosting a WC Finals. I have watched Test Matches in all major test venues in India, except Mohali, and can safely say that Wankhede was the worst of the lot. Not only was it the smallest stadium and least impressive of grounds, it was also a horrible venue: broken wooden seats on rusty iron beams, bad access to the ground, crowd that booed its greatest cricketer, and a generally below-par venue to watch a good cricket match; even though Mumbai is the centre of the cricketing universe. It will be a shame if this stadium hosts the 2011 Finals. Brabourne is probably a better venue, but the size of the stadium and quality of pitch remains disappointing. Just because Pawar is BCCI President doesn't mean that Mumbai has to host everything!

Whatever happened to India's, and perhaps the world's, greatest venue, the Eden Gardens? 110,000 fans, beautiful outfield, outstanding pitch, fantastic stadium set on the north side of the world's largest urban park, overlooked by the imperious High Court, attended by among the most knowledgable and passionate of spectators. EG provides it all: it is the obvious venue to host a WC Finals in the subcontinent. However, according to the BCCI, it won't even be fortunate enough to host a semi-finals in 2011. What a shame! OK, fine, Pawar hates Dalmiya and so Calcutta will get nothing (there's not been a test match there since March 2005), but Dalmiya is no longer at the helm. What's the problem now, revenge? Mumbai still got its fair share when Dalmiya was in power!

In my mind, there are only three world class venues presently in India taking everything into account. Eden Gardens easily takes the cake, but Mohali and Bangalore's Chinnaswamy are the other two that come 2nd and 3rd. If they built a new stadium in Delhi, I'm sure it would be equally worthy, but sadly neither of the Mumbai stadiums nor the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai are as good as they should be, let alone as good as the ones mentioned above. Being a half-Bengali, half-Punjabi from Bangalore, I may be considered biased, which I'm sure I am, but you only need to visit (or even see on TV!) matches at these various venues to realise what I'm trying to say. I hope the BCCI changes its mind some time in the next 3 years.......

Not knowing how many teams will play in the next World Cup and what the format will be, it is too early to speak, but it has already been decided that the Opening Ceremony will be in Dhaka, the two Semi Finals in Colombo and Lahore and the Finals in Mumbai. What kind of games, if any, will Calcutta, Bangalore, Mohali and Chennai host? May be Ireland vs Bangladesh!