876 seats taken off at Eden Gardens

To help the struggling Indian batsmen deal with the high-arm release of 7-feet, 1-inch tall Pakistani pacer Mohammad Irfan, the CAB today sacrificed 876 seats at both ends of the already shrunk Eden Gardens.

"About 876 seats in the upper and lower tiers of club house and in F, G blocks, on both the ends, have been covered with dark clothes to increase the sight screen height," CAB joint secretary Subir Ganguly said.

"We have consulted the umpires and the match referee and they have approved it," he said ahead of tomorrow's ODI, a must-win one for India.

With the tickets for the marquee clash being in high demand, the loss of seats would be a big blow for the fans as Eden Gardens' capacity had already been reduced to 66,000 after the World Cup renovation.

The CAB further said that PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf would be in attendance along with 25 fans from across the border.

Celebrating 25 years of one-day cricket at the Eden Gardens, the CAB will felicitate 25 former and present players from both the teams during the innings break.