Kanpur to host final West Indies ODI

International cricket will return to Kanpur after a four-year gap as the BCCI picked Green Park stadium to host the final ODI between India and West Indies scheduled for November 27.

In the original itinerary released on October 15, the BCCI had listed both Baroda and Kanpur as likely venue for the game. It is understood that the a team of BCCI officials, including its game development manager Ratnakar Shetty, operations manager Suru Nayak and, initially, along with West Indies team manager Richie Richardson, had conducted a recce of Green Park and were satisfied with the facilities and the ground.

Taposh Chatterjee, the central zone member on BCCI's ground and pitches committee, is expected to visit Kanpur early next week to finalise the pitch preparations for the match. Even though Green Park is equipped with floodlights, the decision about whether the match could be played under lights would be taken later.

It is not entirely clear exactly why Kanpur was picked ahead of Bardoa in the absence of any official media release from the BCCI. A team of BCCI officials had visited Baroda to conduct an inspection, but Sanjay Patel, the Bardoa Cricket Association secretary, who also is the BCCI secretary, could not be reached for a comment.

The previous time Kanpur played host to an international was in 2009, for the second Test of Sri Lanka series in November. Green Park is the only Test venue in India not to be owned by the concerned state association (Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association) - it is owned by the state government. The last time Green Park came close to hosting an international match was in December 2012 when it was a favourite to host the Test match against Australia but was ruled out after Cricket Australia was dissatisfied with the dressing room as well as the team hotel following an inspection.