Why was the Ind-Pak match reduced to 18 overs?

[Ultimate_Game]

This question was on my mind and got last in the euphoria of an India win. We had a nearly 20-30 min ceremony on the ground before the match where all and sundry made speeches and numerous people were felicitated. Wouldn't it had been better to have the complete 20-20 match and curtail or cancel the idiotic ceremony? This wasn't some local galli-mohala cricket match where anything goes. This was one of the most high profile match in an ICC tournament. How did ICC allow this to happen? How come nobody came forward and said let's get the whole match in and get away from the ceremony? Anyone has any idea or additional info regarding the same?

Edited March 20, 2016 by Ultimate_Game

[Nova]

The organizers did the presentation while the ground staff was still taking care of the wet outfield and rolling the pitch. I think inspection of playing conditions, by umpires, and coin toss does not happen while the ground is still being attended to. I guess one could argue that they utilized this time to get the ceremony done as the match would still have been shortened by couple overs due to wet outfield.

Also a politician like Mamta would not want to miss the opportunity to be in the limelight after all the security drama of Dharamsala, Who is going to come forward and speak against her? :p

 

 

[Ultimate_Game]

^^^
If the ceremony was being held when the outfield was getting ready for play, that's fine. I hope we didn't lose overs due to the ceremony.