India vs Australia | Mohali, Delhi ODIs to be played as scheduled, confirms CK Khanna
BCCI acting president CK Khanna has revealed that the ODIs against Australia at Mohali and Delhi will go on as per schedule and there are no plans of shifting the venues. Earlier, there were reports that the matches will be shifted to other cities due to the tension between India and Pakistan.
Australia is touring India and the two teams will play a five-match ODI series from today which is considered as the final preparations for the Indian team ahead of the ICC World Cup. The Australia team has already won the T20I series 2-0 and the 50-over matches will commence today in Hyderabad. However, there were some reports that the BCCI might shift the last two games of the series out of Mohali and Delhi because of the ongoing political issues with Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack last month. But, the acting president of the Indian cricket board has now come out in open to confirm that the matches on March 10 in Mohali and March 13 in the national capital will be played as scheduled.
"There is certainly no such plan to shift any of the games from their original venues. I can confirm that both ODIs in Mohali and Delhi are happening as per our schedule," Khanna was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
After the reports of change of venues emerged, the Saurashtra Cricket Association had offered the BCCI to host one of the last two ODIs in Rajkot.
"As far as a backup venue is concerned, the BCCI always has alternate arrangements in place in case a venue expresses its inability to host a game. It was nice of Saurashtra to put their hand up, but as of now, it won't be necessary," the acting president explained.