International cricket will return to Cricket Club of India’s (CCI’s) Brabourne Stadium after almost a decade. The fourth ODI between India and West Indies, to be played on October 29, was moved from the Wankhede Stadium to Brabourne due to the operational problems plaguing the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).
“Under the instructions of the Committee of Administrators (CoA), the fourth ODI between India and Windies scheduled on October 29 at the Wankhede Stadium has been shifted to CCI, Mumbai,” said a BCCI statement on Friday.
Since the MCA is literally a headless body as the term of the court-appointed CoA ended on September 15 and cannot operate its bank accounts due to lack of an official signatory, the MCA had requested the BCCI to bear all the expenses for letting MCA stage the match.
It is understood that the BCCI chief executive Rahul Johri briefed the CoA in Hyderabad on Wednesday and the CoA was in favour of moving the match since the host association — MCA in this case — was unable to stage the game.
Considering the logistics, especially for the broadcast crew since Pune is to host the third ODI on October 27, CCI was the obvious alternate choice.
Once the CCI management, which last hosted an international in December 2009, gave its go ahead, the BCCI announced its decision.
The erstwhile home of Indian cricket, the Brabourne Stadium has hosted 18 Tests, eight ODIs and a solitary T20I from 1948 till 2009. Since then, the stadium has been used as a venue for IPL games sparsely.
