Why is the BCCI avoiding matches on the weekends?

Match: India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd One Day International Match, Date: Monday, 21st December 2009, Watch the Live Telecast of the match on the national network of Doordarshan or on Neo Cricket from 2:30 pm India Standard Time/+9:00 am GMT.

Yesterday was a Sunday and the day before was a Saturday. But surprisingly, the BCCI scheduled the 2nd One Day on Friday and the next one on Monday completely leaving out the two days in between when it is much easier for the spectators to go to the grounds to see the match or enjoy the cricket live on tv at their homes. The BCCI has already been infamous for their poor understanding of the country’s geography – 4 consecutive one-dayers in the recent home series vs Australia were played at Mohali, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Rajkot. North India, South India, East India, West India in that order! Now the schedulers at BCCI have begun getting the days of the week horribly wrong as well.

Coming to today’s match, the home team will sorely miss the services of MSD, their wicketkeeper-captain. More than the captaincy, Dhoni’s conistent batting provided a much needed balance to a team which lacks in quality all-rounders. Thankfully, Yuvraj Singh should return to the fold.

We expect Sanga to correct the mistake in the last ODI by dropping out Jayasurya. Besides his batting, Jayasurya is a very handy bowler, especially in ODIs. He should be making a return to the Sri Lanka XI today at Cuttack.

Ground/Pitch Conditions: Click here for detailed info on the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. The ground has traditionally favoured the slower bowlers and today should be no different. But it will still be a great batting strip, nonetheless.