BCCI ignores Eden Gardens again

The Cricket Board has given the short shrift to one of India's iconic cricket arenas, the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, again while deciding on the venues to host the seven ODIs against Australia in October-November.

The BCCI's Tour Programmes and Fixtures Committee met in Mumbai on Wednesday and decided that Guwahati, Delhi, Mumbai, Mohali, Hyderabad, Nagpur and Jaipur will host matches in the India-Australia ODI rubber in October-November.

Eden Gardens, which can now accommodate 90,000 fans and hosted the final of the 1987 World Cup between England and eventual winners Australia, has missed out again from the list.

The last ODI played in front of the cricket-crazy Kolkata fans was held on February 8, 2007, between India and Sri Lanka.

The venue, revered by visiting teams, also hosted its last Test match - against Pakistan - between November 30 and December 4, 2007.

The venues for ODIs and Tests are allotted by the BCCI on a rotation basis, and it is surprising to see Eden Gardens not getting an international tie for so long.

Incidentally, Cricket Association of Bengal is headed by Jagmohan Dalmiya who is facing charges of misappropriation of funds raised when India hosted the 1996 World Cup jointly with Pakistan and Sri Lanka.