Just two months before the ICC T20 World Cup begins, Kolkata's historic Eden Gardens has been chosen as venue for Ustad Ghulam Ali's concert on January 12. The event which will be organised by the West Bengal government was scheduled to be held at Park Circus Maidan in Kolkata but the at the last moment there was change in plans. Ali will perform along with his son.
Ghulam Ali's concert was called off in Mumbai last year after threats from Shiv Sena, following which Mamata Banerjee invited Ghulam Ali to perform in Kolkata.
While Ghulam Ali coming to Kolkata is a welcome development, the choice of venue has evoked lot of questions especially due to Eden's chequered history. Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) had come under severe criticism after the third T20 match between India and South Africa got washed out due to slightest of rains. Since then the historic cricket ground, which will host the final of the T20 World Cup, has been thoroughly rehauled with processes such as coring. A concert of this magnitude is bound to affect the outfield. It is to be seen what negative impression this may have on ICC officials who had earlier sent an inspection team to get an update on the venue.
A CAB official said to our sources, "Just few days ago coring was done on the outfield. This issue was not even discussed in the working committee meeting. How can such a decision be taken overnight?"
Incidentally, Eden Gardens had even lost hosting rights for the India versus England game in ICC 2011 World Cup as CAB failed to meet the deadline for renovation of the stadium. The match was shifted to M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. After the washout of the T20 game, there were suggestions to move the final out of Kolkata, but it didn't materialise.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee faced a lot of wrath from the cricket organisation, when she arbitrarily appointed Sourav Ganguly as the President of the association, after the demise of Jagmohan Dalmiya. Now with this step by the goverment, Dada is likely to face another bouncer? Will he be able to fend it?
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