New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI): The ICC today approved BCCI's proposal to hold the India-England Cricket World Cup tie at Bangalore after Eden Gardens was stripped of the right to host it and said the match will be held on the scheduled date of February 27.
The Indian Cricket Board had yesterday recommended Bangalore as the alternate venue after the ICC decided to shift the match out of Eden Gardens after an inspection team of the world body had found the stadium to be under-prepared for the tie.
"The ICC today confirmed its decision to relocate the venue for the India v England match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, which had been originally scheduled for Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 27 February. It will now take place in Bengaluru on the same date," the ICC said in a media release.
ICC Chief Executive Officer Haroon Lorgat said with today's decision to re-locate tie, the stakeholders can now start working on the logistics to hold the match in Bangalore.
"The BCCI has responded to the ICC nominating Bengaluru as its preferred alternate venue for the India v England match, a recommendation the ICC agrees to.
"This decision now clarifies and gives us certainty over the fixture. We can now work with our various partners and stakeholders to make sure that match – along with the rest of the tournament – is all it should be," Lorgat said in the statement.
The world body said an inspection team will visit Eden Gardens to assess the readiness of the stadium for the remaining three matches of the World Cup.
"There will be an inspection of Eden Gardens on 7 February to assess progress ahead of remaining three scheduled fixtures in Kolkata," the statement said.
"In a letter to the BCCI yesterday, the ICC outlined a schedule of works that needed to be carried out at Eden Gardens ahead of the ground's other scheduled fixtures on 15, 18 and 20 March. As such, an inspection team will visit Kolkata again on 7 February to assess progress in line with that schedule," it said.
The three other matches alloted to Eden Gardens are South Africa vs Ireland (March 15), the Netherlands vs Ireland (March 18) and Zimbabwe vs Kenya (March 20).