Modi casts Kolkata into the wilderness

The Indian board (BCCI) has decided not to allot any of the matches of the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), saying CAB put 'unreasonable conditions' for hosting matches in the tournament.

"The CAB has lost the chance of hosting Champions Trophy because of putting unreasonable conditions," said Lalit Modi, the BCCI's vice-president after a meeting of the board with ICC representatives in Mumbai.

Modi explained that the BCCI wanted to distribute the matches equitably among all the regional centres, but the CAB's demand for specific matches was a hindrance. "It wanted specific and later-stage matches, presumably the semi-final and final, which was uncalled for," he countered, adding that the CAB did not want to host matches before October 23.

He added that the CAB also wanted to know which specific matches they were being allocated so that they could take a decision whether they were going to host those.

A further stumbling block was that the Bengal board did not want the Champions Trophy matches to be included in the grounds rotation policy, but the BCCI refused.

Modi argued that several southern centres - such as Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore - were also interested in staging games, but the weather at that time was against them.

He ended by passing the ball back to the ICC, telling reporters that while the BCCI had agreed in principle to host the tournament, the ICC had to decide on venues in addition to the three already agreed. "They [the ICC] want world-class facilities for holding the matches," he said, "so, it's up to them to decide on alternative venues."