DDCA says the first India-Afghanistan T20I will go ahead in Delhi despite BRICS Summit

Delhi's cricket association has insisted the opening Twenty20 International against Afghanistan will be played on Sunday as planned, a day after the city's traffic police asked for it to be moved

The first of three T20Is between India and Afghanistan, scheduled for 13 September at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, spent Thursday under a cloud after the Delhi Police wrote to the Delhi and District Cricket Association asking for the fixture to be rescheduled around the BRICS Summit being staged in the capital.

The DDCA answered late on Thursday evening with a short statement confirming no change of date, saying it had been given assurances by the traffic police after a meeting between the two.

Cricbuzz reported that the final decision is still to be confirmed, and that people involved in staging the match do not regard a change of schedule as off the table. The Afghanistan Cricket Board, the host board for a series played on neutral soil, has not commented.

What the police asked for

The request came in a letter from the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Central Range, to the DDCA secretary. It said the summit "requires extensive traffic arrangements, including VVIP/VIP route regulation, traffic diversions, route clearance and deployment of personnel for smooth and uninterrupted movement of foreign delegates and associated vehicles".

The letter put the expected crowd at 25,000 to 35,000 and named the pinch points around the ground, noting that DDU Marg, BSZ Marg, Minto Road, Kamala Market "and adjoining roads already witness substantial vehicular and pedestrian movement".

Match traffic and parking around BSZ Marg, Mata Sundari College, Raj Ghat and Bal Bhawan were, it added, "likely to reduce available carriageway and cause congestion".

The DDCA's answer

The association's reply, posted on social media on the evening of 10 September, was unambiguous. "India-Afghanistan 1st T20I on 13 September at Arun Jaitley Stadium will go ahead as scheduled," it said.

"Following a meeting with Delhi Traffic Police, DDCA has been assured of all necessary support and arrangements."

No alternative date was floated in the statement, and the association gave no detail of what the promised arrangements would involve.

Two events, five kilometres apart

The summit is being held in New Delhi across the same weekend, with schools and government offices set to close for the duration. Bharat Mandapam, the conference venue, sits roughly five kilometres from the stadium.

That proximity, rather than the cricket itself, is the difficulty. A full house at the Arun Jaitley Stadium and a secured delegate corridor would be drawing on the same stretch of central Delhi at the same hours.

A push towards Ganesh Chaturthi

Cricbuzz also reported a separate line of argument inside the game, with some sources saying there is a push to put the match back by a day so that it lands on the festival day of Ganesh Chaturthi.

That would be a commercial calculation rather than a security one, and it would leave a tight turnaround: the remaining two matches of the series are set for 15 and 17 September, all three at the same ground.

Until either board says otherwise, Sunday stands.

What India take into the series

India go into the T20Is without Harshit Rana, who was ruled out through injury earlier this week. The BCCI named Yash Thakur as his replacement in the squads for both the Afghanistan matches and the Asian Games.

The series is Afghanistan's home assignment, staged in India as their fixtures have been for several years, and the three matches are scheduled to start at 7pm IST.

For the players, a 24-hour move would be an inconvenience; for ticket holders and a broadcaster, rather more than that, which is why the DDCA moved quickly to shut the question down.

The Delhi and District Cricket Association says the first T20I will be played on Sunday 13 September at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, with the second and third to follow on 15 and 17 September.

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