The Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) home venue Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium (Uppal, Hyderabad) is facing mosquito attacks and making the teams’ anxious and discomfortable even in the dressing room too.
In the IPL 2018, the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium (Uppal, Hyderabad) has already organised two matches against Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Mumbai Indians (MI) respectively. Along with the home team, both visiting sides have complained about the mosquito attacks. Even SRH players were seen to look for mosquito rackets, mosquito repellents etc. to rescue themselves from the mosquito menace.
Mumbai Indians played the match here on Thursday night. Prior to the game, Mumbai team members told TOI, “It is so bad that someone will get malaria if not looked into immediately.”
The mosquito menace not just in the ground, but also providing problems in the players’ dressing room. Mumbai squad also complained about not taking the necessary approach for that by the authorities.
The team members spoke on that, “The local staff came and used some very foul-smelling pesticide spray inside (the dressing room). The smell is so bad and so toxic that the players haven’t been able to even sit inside the dressing room.
“The entire playfield is full of mosquitoes and it’s very dangerous. It’s shocking that the authorities aren’t even bothered about it.”
Mumbai Indians lost the match in the last-ball thriller as the hosts secured a victory by one wicket.
Earlier in this season, Rajasthan Royals had played at this stadium on last Monday night and they had also the same complaint. Rajasthan had lost that match by 9 wickets with 25 balls to spare.
After that Monday’s game, a Rajasthan Royals source said according to the TOI, “Just yesterday we played a game there and yes, we were looking to bring it to someone’s notice that the conditions are very bad there.”
It is never a good sign for the high-quality cash-rich tournament. While the mosquito attacks can bring the dangerous harmful disease, the local authorities such neglecting approach is really surprising.
The next match will be played on this ground on April 22 between SRH and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Before that game, the authorities need to solve that issue.
