Chennai might not get to host World T20 matches

The fate of Chennai hangs in the balance

Chennai's inclusion as the eighth host city for the World T20 seems to be in danger. The ICC has clearly conveyed to the BCCI that the condition for including Chennai as a host city is to make sure that all tickets of the MA Chidambaram Stadium stand will have to be made available for sale. according to ESPN cricinfo.

At present, the Chennai Corporation has locked the I,J and K stands since the past three years because of a dispute with the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), which runs part of the stadium.

The BCCI has therefore forwaded two schedules to the ICC – one that includes Chennai as a host, and one that does not. The ICC will get back to the BCCI after it makes it decision. The ICC had made clear its condition from the very beginning.

A meeting was held in Mumbai for the BCCI organizing and management committees to decide on the schedule for the matches. Chennai has been assigned matches for now, but it has been made sure that none of these are marquee matches.

The BCCI secretary, Anurag Thakur, who is also part of the management committee, said that Chennai has not been 'ruled out' for now, pending the completion certificates from TNCA. However, the TNCA secretary, Kasi Viswanathan, has denied receiving any communication from the BCCI pertaining to this matter.

The ICC, however, is not too happy with the arrangement. The BCCI has assured the ICC that in case the stands are not available for use, Chennai will be assigned lower profile matches. But the ICC is not impressed – it right pointed out that the stadium has all permissions to use all stands during the 2011 World Cup.

The stands were built just before the World Cup, and got into trouble after the tournament. In the past three years, only once have all the stands been used when the court granted temporary relief - Chennai Super Kings versus Delhi Daredevils, in 2013.

If the TNCA is to get permission, according to the city corporation's rules, it has to create a space between the three stands in dispute and the Madras Cricket Club (MCC). If this space needs to be created, the MCC's gym has to be abolished. This creates a problem because the MCC is a heritage structure, and the heritage committee needs to approve of any such demolition.

The World T20 matches are going to be played in India for the first time.