Jammu and Kashmir's matches to be moved to Punjab: BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel
The BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel has said that the board has decided to move the home matches, across all age-groups, of Jammu & Kashmir (J & K) to the neighbouring state of Punjab, as large parts of J&K are still waterlogged due to the devastating floods that hit the state a couple of weeks back.
"We have taken a decision due to the natural calamity in Jammu & Kashmir. Punjab Cricket Association has come forward and all of Jammu & Kashmir's home games will be played in Mohali," Sanjay Patel said on Saturday.
There seems to be some confusion, however, with the secretary of the J&K Cricket Association, ML Nehru, stating that the decision hasn’t yet been approved by the BCCI. He said that they had put forward the idea of moving the games starting in October to Punjab, but it remains to be seen whether all their matches for the upcoming season are moved.
There should be more clarity on the matter in the coming days, with JKCA due to have a meeting with other members of the North Zone next week.
"We are still waiting for the final decision which should be ratified at the BCCI working committee meeting. We had told BCCI Punjab would be one of the options for the immediate matches which start in October [the national Under-16 tournament begins in October]," Nehru told ESPNcricinfo. "But we will have to wait and see exactly how many matches will be played outside J&K across all age-groups. We are waiting to talk with other members of North Zone."
He added: "There is no alternative because of the floods. We want to play and do not want to deprive players of not playing cricket. We now have to look at which matches across age-groups can be moved out of J&K and where."
The matches moving to Punjab should not pose any problems, with Punjab Cricket Association joint-secretary GS Walia stating that they are fully prepared for such a possibility.
“We had informed the convener of the North Zone that we would be willing to host their matches since the damage [caused by the floods] may take a long time to be repaired," Walia said.