Eden Gardens joins the party
Kolkata's iconic Eden Gardens, which was embarrassingly stripped of
its opening World Cup clash last month, finally joins the party on
Tuesday, but the celebrations could turn flat. The historic venue was
scheduled to host four World Cup matches but missed out on the
high-profile game between India and England on February 27 due to delays
in renovation work with the match shifted to Bangalore. Eden Gardens now
boasts a modern look but with the capacity reduced from 90,000 to
65,000.
"Coming to India, you always hear of Eden Gardens as one of the big
grounds, like going to England and playing at Lord's," said Ireland
skipper William Porterfield.
But the famous arena will not be full when South Africa clash with
Ireland on Tuesday as Indian grounds only tend to fill up when the home
side plays.
"There's a lot of history at the ground The lads are looking forward
to getting out there. We've got two games here, so it's pretty special,"
added Porterfield.
Ireland will also face Netherlands at this venue while the third game
is between Zimbabwe and Kenya.
South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl, whose team can book a
quarter-finals place with a win on Tuesday, was also looking forward to
the occasion. "Eden Gardens is a special place to play cricket. We have
played a Test match here and it's good to be back here." Eden Gardens
turned out to be a lucky venue for Australia skipper Allan Border whose
side won the 1987 World Cup final against Mike Gatting's Englishmen
before a capacity crowd. OLKATA, Tuesday (AFP)
|