Eden Gardens fire: India's iconic Cricket Stadium on Wednesday caught fire after the revised schedule of the Cricket World Cup 2023 was announced. The venue will be among the ten cities hosting the cricket extravaganza in the months of October, November. It is undergoing renovation to get completely ready for the tournament.
Amid renovation work, one of the rooms saw flames coming out at the venue on Wednesday. The CAB President opened up on the incident and ruled out any sabotage angle. "A fire broke out last night at 11.50 pm. People who were working here saw smoke and then the fire. Immediately, two fire tenders were pressed into action and flames were doused in no time. There was no damage to the dressing room as such. Only some cables were burnt. But certainly, there is no sabotage angle," Ganguly told the media.
Notably, Eden Gardens is one of the venues undergoing revamp ahead of the World Cup in India. The venue was slated to host four matches in 2011 when the ODI World Cup was last played in India. However, one of the matches was shifted as it failed to meet the requirements of the standards set by the ICC on time.
Eden Gardens to host five matches in World Cup 2023
Meanwhile, the venue will be hosting five World Cup games in 2023. But like other venues, Kolkata will not host a game in the early part of the tournament. The first game here is scheduled to take place on October 28 between Bangladesh and Netherlands. Pakistan and Bangladesh will be locking horns on October 31st, followed by India's big-ticket game against South Africa on November 5. It will be hosting a league game between England and Pakistan on November 11 and the second semifinal on November 16.
