CAB sure of ICC green light for Eden Gardens

The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) is hoping that the International Cricket Council's (ICC) team, which conducted a final inspection at Eden Gardens on Tuesday, would give the green light for the stadium to host World Cup matches.

The five-member team including tournament director Ratnakar Shetty spent close to four hours at Eden Gardens in the afternoon, checking everything from the ground, dressing rooms, hospitality arrangements, galleries and other facilities. They had a long meeting with CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya before leaving for Mumbai.

Nobody from the ICC inspection team spoke to the media but Dalmiya said afterwards that the officials had no reason to be dissatisfied with what they saw.

"From what I could figure out, they should be happy. A lot of things have changed since their last visit on December 9."

After the previous trip to Eden Gardens, the ICC team had expressed disappointment at the speed of work. Even on Tuesday, not everything was in place.

Dalmiya, however, said it wouldn't be a problem. "A few minor things are still to be done, which will be completed in time."

The former ICC president was also drawing hope form his experience of hosting big matches at Eden Gardens.

"We have done World Cup matches here in 1987 and 1996. Apart from those, we have held big events like Nehru World Series (1989) and Hero Cup (1993). We know what it takes to host matches of such stature."

Eden Gardens is scheduled to host four matches, starting with the one between India and England on February 27.

The stadium has to be handed over to the ICC two weeks before that match.