World cup preparations:
Thumbs down
Wherever a world cup is organised, we see extravagant arrangements made by the host nations. In order to make such an event resplendent and magnificent, some prolific efforts and resources are required.
But if we have a look at the arrangements made for the 2011 cricket World Cup to be hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the situation is far from perfect.
The arrangements comprise two main aspects:
1. Ground preparation
2. Security
Ground preparation
India and Sri Lanka, the two largest cricketing nations, have failed to meet the deadlines given to them by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which was November 30, 2010 to have all the grounds ready for play.
While, three grounds in Sri Lanka are still under construction, the most criticised venues in the interim report of the ICC headed by ICC events manager Chris Tetley, are Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, which is where the final is supposed to be played. The grounds have been given a grace period of 45 days. This means they must be ready by January 15, 2011.
Security concerns
One of the issues with this particular world cup was that of security. Along with the three mentioned nations, Pakistan was also supposed to host the event but it was dropped due to the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore along with inefficient security measures. Consequently the matches were distributed among the other three countries.
Several senior cricketers criticised the ICC’s decision. Zaheer Abbas, Rameez Raja, Saleem Altaf, Javed Miandad and Ehsan Mani all opposed this call.
“If safety was their concern then the 2011 World Cup should have been given to Australia and New Zealand and the Asian countries could have hosted the 2015 World Cup.”
Javed Miandad, former cricketer and PCB’s director general
If it was ICC’s standard that Pakistan was not meeting, then it must be noted that India and Sri Lanka have also failed at the very first level of inspection.
Now, the question is: With the preparations these countries have made, can one expect a tournament with the same arrangements as were seen in the football world cup and Olympics?
A rational decision by ICC would have been to give hosting rights to Australia and New Zealand, but it seems India received undue favour and support. Not to mention the Common Wealth Games fiasco on the part of the organisers. If Pakistan lacks security arrangements, India lacks everything else.
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