ODI World Cup semi-final venue: Fire breaks out at Eden Gardens amid renovation work

Preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 are in full swing, as it is just a couple of months away. As the excitement has been building up among cricket fans, disturbing news came from an important cricket venue. On August 9, a fire broke out at the World Cup’s semi-final venue, Kolkata’s Eden Gardens Stadium. The renovation work has been going on in the stadium, and the fire got ignited due to a short circuit in the dressing room, India Today reported. Due to the fire, the player’s belongings, which were in the dressing room, were reduced to ashes.

Last week, representatives from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) visited Kolkata to inspect the iconic Eden Gardens stadium, which will not only host semi-final contest but also some high-profile matches in the tournament. Ten teams will participate in the Cricket World Cup, which will be played across 10 venues from October 5 to November 19, with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosting the tournament opener and the final. The event will feature 48 matches to be played across 46 days.

In a recent interview given to the news agency PTI, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Snehasish Ganguly had said that the ICC inspection team was satisfied with the renovation of Eden Gardens. The stadium that can host over 65,000 people is one of the most popular venues across the world, but the fire incident has put a question mark on the stadium’s safety concerns to host this marquee event.