Eden Park could miss out on hosting India in the ODI and T20I series

India are scheduled to tour New Zealand in January 2019 for five ODIs and three T20Is. Earlier this year, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to play Test cricket in the nation citing reasons that the viewers find it difficult to wake up in the morning and follow the encounters. Subsequently, it impacts and TRPs and also the revenues of the world’s richest cricket board.

Recently, another development has come to the fore surrounding the broadcasting of the fixtures. New Zealand Cricket and Star Sports have been loggerheads with each other. Back in 2017, Star Sports brought the broadcasting rights in the subcontinent for the White Ferns and the Black Caps. In the deal, the broadcasters have asked for the India matches to start one hour earlier at 7:30 am IST.

The recent conundrum

The same has been contemplated when daylight savings will be in place in October. In that scenario, the matches are scheduled to end at approximately 3:30 pm IST, bearing in mind the time taken to complete 100 overs in the 50-overs format. Eden Park can host 25-night events and has the permission to host the matches with a scheduled finish of 10 pm local time as per reports in News18.

As per the demands of Star Sports, they would now require to take approval to extend the time frame. The same consent can be taken from the Auckland City Council for a penalty of a significant amount of money, which can extend up to five digits. This could mean that the venue in Auckland can only host one-afternoon T20I encounter against the Men in Blue.

Eden Park costs a whopping $250,000 for an ODI. It has also been learned that New Zealand Cricket is keen to host India in Auckland but will have to negotiate as no other venue is expected to have any issues with 11 pm finishes. They also need to keep in mind the convenience of the local fans who will be traveling back home after the completion of the match.

[interaction id=”5b50667b77f0ec756f57bbc4″]

For more news and developments, stay tuned on CricTracker.com.