Mohali

Why does it get so many marquee games of cricket? Not a particularly special ground, and the attendances for tests are usually low. So why Mohali?

Because PCA (Punjab Cricket Association) is headed by I S Bindra, man of all seasons. He has been in Indian cricket adminstration for close to 2 decades now.

Ideally, Mohali shouldn't get any games (tests at least) as it witnesses so little crowd.

Same is true for VCA stadium, Nagpur. Since its the home ground of current BCCI prez Shashank Manohar, it gets games after games.

Also, one more reason could be Mohali offers excellent practice facilities. Also its located in Chandigarh, one of India's best cities.

So it's all political. Should have guessed.....

Nagpur usually throws up result oriented matches though.

Mohali was a good test wkt initially but of late there have been too many draws.

Keep test cricket in the main Indian cities- Mumbai, Calcutta, Bangalore, Delhi. They are the best grounds, with the most knowledgeable fans, and draw the biggest test crowds.

Take the ODI's to the smaller cities.

right now its like christmas for the smaller grounds, since bombay and calcutta are unavailable till the world cup and delhi is a crap pitch no one wants to play on

but i agree tests should be played only at the big 4 grounds - bombay, cal, madras and bangalore. and probably delhi. no one particularly cares for tests in the smaller centres anyways. give them 2 odis as an 'incentive'

philcric wrote:Nagpur usually throws up result oriented matches though.

Still doesn't explain why it gets so many games.

Nagpur and Mohali are two of the best stadiums / facilities in India,b pity about the crowds though. However it is not an issue for BCCI since ground takings are peanuts compared to what they get from TV rights.