2nd Vijay Hazare semifinal shifted to Kotla

The second semi-final of the Vijay Hazare ODI tournament between Jharkhand and Bengal has been postponed by a day after a fire in the former team's hotel and will now be played at the Feroz Shah Kotla here.

Minutes before the scheduled start of the game at the Air Force Ground in Palam, it was postponed after the fire broke out in the Jharkhand team hotel here on Friday morning.

Former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is currently leading his state team, was also reportedly present at the hotel when the incident occurred.

The Tamil Nadu team, which has already qualified for the final on Thursday, was also lodged in the same WelcomHotel in sector 10 area of Dwarka where the blaze broke out.

According to sources, the players and officials only came to know about the fire after the rooms were filled with dense smoke.

The players from both the teams (Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu) assembled outside the hotel waiting to retrieve their belongings, including kits.

All the players were evacuated in time and are safe, according to reports.

A call was made to the Delhi Fire Service at around 6.30 a.m. following which nearly 30 fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

No casualties were reported.

--IANS

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