KOLKATA – 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. The last match at this venue was held in December 2009 between India and Sri Lanka.
