India-West Indies fourth ODI at Wankhede stadium in danger after BCCI refuses MCA’s request to host it

West Indies is on a tour currently in India and will be playing against the hosts till November 11 which consists of two Test matches, five One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three T20s. Amongst which, the fourth ODI of the tour is scheduled to be played at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on October 29. However, prior to the match, there are certain issues that can hinder the match from happening at Wankhede stadium.

On October 9, Tuesday, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) representatives met BCCI CEO Rahul Johri at the Board headquarters in order to discuss the possibilities of losing the fourth ODI at Wankhede Stadium. The danger has risen due to lack of the signing authority to dispense payments and the issue of complimentary tickets.  

An MCA official stated that they talked with Johri about their difficulties and how they couldn’t pay vendors for the match currently and therefore, they had requested BCCI to host the match for them but the cricket board declined the request. He added that they will be meeting Johri again on Thursday. The Mumbai board was represented by CS Naik and managing committee members Ganesh Iyer, Armaan Mallick, and Unmesh Khanvilkar.

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Due to the absence of any president or secretary who clears payments for the board, the MCA couldn’t pay the hotel bills for the team during the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Bangalore and had asked BCCI to bail them out. In response, the MCA approached Bombay High Court on Monday and the court directed them to the Supreme Court and the Mumbai board believes they are unlikely to get a hearing soon.

Earlier, Bombay High Court had appointed a two-member CoA to look after the functioning of MCA but its term ended on September 15. Therefore, the CoA handed over the responsibility to CEO CS Naik. However, Naik did not have the authority to sign the cheques on behalf of MCA. Due to which, all the payments so far have been halted, including the staff salaries and the players’ daily allowances.

Team India who won the first Test match against the Windies will now be playing their second Test match on October 12 at Hyderabad.