Big change between IndvsAus series, BCCI shifted venue from Dharamshala, now the match will be held here
New Delhi. The third Test between India and Australia, to be held from March 1 to 5, has been shifted from Dharamsala to Indore due to a bad outfield. The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) gave this information on Monday. The decision to shift the match was confirmed on Sunday itself after BCCI curator Tapas Chatterjee reported the new outfield as unfit for international play.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement, “The third Test of Australia’s tour of India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which was to be held at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala from March 1 to 5, will now be held at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.” “Due to harsh winter conditions in the region, there is not enough grass in the outfield and it will take time to be fully prepared,” Shah said. Bad weather also added to the woes of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) as the local ground The workers did not get enough time to mow the grass.
Even before the latest inspection, the pitch and ground committee of the BCCI had visited the ground once and even then it was nowhere close to being ready. After this, questions are being raised on the BCCI scheduling team as to why all aspects including the weather were not taken into consideration while allotting the matches. There has been no cricket in the Dharamsala Stadium in the last one season. The last two international matches at this ground were rained out, which were the T20 and ODI against South Africa. After rain, the ground could not be prepared even for the short overs match.
Himachal Pradesh’s Ranji team is playing its home matches at Nadaun due to the newly prepared pitch and outfield. For a ground to host an international match, certain criteria must be met and the ground must have held at least one competitive match in the weeks prior to hosting an ODI, T20 International or Test. The Holkar Stadium in Indore has already hosted several first class matches and age group matches in the current season. The last match here was the Ranji Trophy semi-final between Madhya Pradesh and Bengal from February 12.
Shifting the match will cause a lot of inconvenience to the spectators. The spectators coming from outside were hoping to enjoy the beauty of Dharamshala along with enjoying the Test match.Dharamshala is the most beautiful cricket venue in India as this stadium is built close to the Dhauladhar ranges. Whenever India plays in Dharamshala, a lot of people come from Delhi, Chandigarh and Shimla to watch the match. Australian fans had also planned to visit McLeoganj to coincide with the Test match.
