India-Pakistan match in Dharamshala

It’s, however, a double whammy for cricket fans in the city. Hot on the heels of being robbed of IPL action for the next two seasons, they received another blow on Friday as the BCCI omitted Chennai from thelist of venues for marquee event. The iconic stadium at Chepauk will be devoid of fanfare when all other major centres in the country will be partaking in the T20 carnival.

The M.A. Chidambaram Stadium was a fixture in all three 50-over World Cups conducted in India, but it has to be content with four women’s matches. To add insult to injury, none of the matches involves India and all of them will not be broadcast live on TV.

Chepauk was deemed to be in danger of missing out on the World Cup on account of a few sealed stands and the Tamil Nadu government’s stanceagainst Sri Lankan players, but a Board insider said it was a result of the new BCCI regime’s “political vendetta”. “Ever since the changeof guard, Tamil Nadu has been getting a raw deal.

Chennai was originally scheduled to host a match between India and Australia, but the issue of three empty stands was suddenly raised to scuttle itschance. The Board could have, at least, allotted qualifying matches or fixtures involving other teams,” said the official.

“Dharamshala doesn’t have a 5-star hotel and the available rooms won’t be enough for the teams and the official TV crew. The capacity of the stadium is only 23,000 whereas Chennai can accommodate 24,000 even without the three stands,” the source added..