ICC inspection of Indian venues over
An inspection team from the International Cricket Council visited Eden Gardens today to check the progress of renovations, one day after making a similar visit to Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.
An inspection team from the International Cricket Council visited Eden Gardens on Tuesday to check the progress of renovations, one day after making a similar visit to Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.
The officials made their visit after concerns that there had been delays. They didn't speak to the media.
Kolkata hosts four group matches, the first between India and England on Feb 27. Mumbai hosts group matches on March 13 and 17 and the final on April 2.
Both venues missed the original Nov 30 deadline for construction to be completed. They are now due to be finished by Jan 31.
The inspection team included, commercial general manager Campbell Janieson, stadium consultant Eugene van Vurren and event manager Chris Tetley from the ICC, World Cup tournament director Ratnakar Shetty and Indian cricket board official Suru Naik.
Jagmohan Dalmiya, responsible for Eden Gardens as chief of the Cricket Association of Bengal, said he is expecting a positive report from the team. "It appears to me that members of the ICC inspection team are happy with the progress of the work," Dalmiya said.
"The team will now send its report to the ICC. Organizing World Cup matches is nothing new to us. We have earlier hosted matches whenever India organized the World Cup, including the final of the 1987 World Cup."
The World Cup starts Feb 19 and will be jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The tournament was previously staged in the subcontinent in 1987 and 1996.