World Cup: Hyderabad cricket association asks for schedule change but BCCI VP Shukla says unlikely to happen

A Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) official said on Sunday that hosting two World Cup games in two days is not ideal for organisational and security reasons, but BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla said any further changes to the schedule are ‘unlikely’.

The BCCI and ICC rescheduled as many as nine games earlier this month, including the marquee match between India and Pakistan, following a much-delayed schedule announcement in June.

With the Indo-Pak game in Ahmedabad being moved up a day to October 15, Pakistan’s game against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad has been moved from October 12 to October 10. On October 9, the HCA will also host a match between New Zealand and the Netherlands.

With the Hyderabad police expressing reservations about providing security for back-to-back games, the HCA requested another change in the schedule, requesting at least a day between the two games.

Rajeev Shukla, however, stated in an official statement that no further changes are likely due to the involvement of multiple stakeholders.

“I am in charge of the Hyderabad venue for WC. If there will be any issue or anything, will try to get it resolved. It is not easy to change the World Cup schedule and it’s unlikely to happen. Only BCCI can’t change schedule, teams, ICC, all involved,” Shukla was quoted as saying by the news agency Press Trust of India.

Given Pakistan’s participation in one of these games, security is expected to be increased. Pakistan, who will play in India for the first time since the T20 World Cup in 2016, will spend a long time in Hyderabad, where they will play two warm-up games before taking part in as many tournament matches as possible. On October 6, they will play the Netherlands at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.