IND vs WI | Venue for first and third T20I swapped between Mumbai and Hyderabad
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to shift the opening T20I of West Indies’ tour of India on December 6 to Hyderabad owing to the Mumbai police's inability to provide security. Instead, the third and final T20I of the series will be played in Mumbai on December 11.
As the Mumbai police will have their hands full on December 6 — the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition and the "Mahaparinirvan Din" of BR Ambedkar — providing security for the cricket match would prove to be a headache. Though Mumbai Cricket Association was optimistic that all the issues surrounding the game will be sorted out in two-three days, the BCCI decided it would be best to take an early call on the matter to give the hosting association enough time to reschedule things. This leaves the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) only two weeks to speed up the entire process.
"The BCCI has informed us that the December 6 T20I will now be played in Hyderabad. The final match will be played in Mumbai," HCA Secretary R Vijayanand told TOI.
"It will not be much of a hassle but the officials will now have to sit down and rework the whole thing. Time is of a premium and therefore there cannot be any laxity on the part of the officials," sources said.