A minor fire broke out at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on the night of August 9. The fire brigade brought the situation under control.
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As the preparations for the upcoming World Cup are underway, a short circuit led to a fire inside the dressing-room at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The internal team of the Cricket Association of Bengal was prompt to act, and the local fire brigade prevented any major damage.
The cricketers of the Bengal team are currently practising at the venue, but they had left before the fire broke out. The sparks of the fire charred some towels left behind, which was largely the extent of the damage.
CAB officials assured Wisden India that there is no reason for concern, and preparations for the World Cup are underway again.
The Eden Gardens have a chequered history with the World Cup. The giant electronic scoreboard did not function during the 1987 match between New Zealand and Zimbabwe, though it was back for the final, between England and Australia.
In the 1996 semi-final, Sri Lanka posted 251-8 and reduced India to 120-8 when crowd violence prevented further play, and match referee Clive Lloyd rewarded the match to Sri Lanka.
In 2011, the India-England league match had to be relocated to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru after the CAB failed to get the Eden Gardens tournament-ready in time.
That year, Kolkata had to be content with three matches – Ireland’s clashes against South Africa and the Netherlands, and Zimbabwe versus Kenya.
The Eden Gardens will host four league matches at the 2023 World Cup – Bangladesh versus Netherlands on October 28, Bangladesh versus Pakistan on October 31, India versus South Africa on November 5, and England versus Pakistan on November 11.
They will also host the second semi-final, on November 16. All matches will start at two in the afternoon.
