The BCCI Vice President, Rajiv Shukla, on Monday, said that the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association, of which he is a member, is in talks with the state government to upgrade the Green Park stadium in Kanpur, which is hosting the ongoing Test match between India and Bangladesh as well. However, it happened after play on Day 2 and Day 3 at the venue couldn’t happen due to rain. While there were a few drizzle on Saturday, there was no rain on Sunday at the venue as well. Despite that, due to the wet outfield, not a single ball could take place.
“Sometimes it happens, though we all pray to Lord Indra, that it should not rain, but, you know, it happens. And it happens throughout the world. So, why unnecessarily Kanpur and Green park are being blamed for something which is in nature’s hand?” Shukla said on the sidelines of the second Test.
“This is the first time in 80 years that it has rained so much that we were not able to host the match for two days. But history suggests that no match has been abandoned here. There are lot many venues in the world where because of the rains, matches have been abandoned. Because when this ground was being built, stadium was being built, then those technologies were not available. Now technologies are available. Like in our Lucknow stadium, we have got that technology. And in Varanasi, we are building another stadium. There we have high-tech, modern technology to take away the water,” he stated.
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“Today I had a discussion with administration on how we can develop this system by which the rainy water can immediately be soaked. Immediately after coming here (Green Park), I had a discussion with the authorities and they are also on the same page and I think we will be able to improve the conditions here shortly. We will get some time to improve the conditions of the ground and that work will be picked up. The moment I came here, I had a long discussion with government officials because this stadium belongs to government. We are in agreement with them. So, now for that, ground has to be dug up, new technology has to be applied and everything has to be done,” he again added.
UPCA, which has hosted many high-profile matches in the modern and upgraded Ekana Stadium in Lucknow in recent years, hosted Test cricket in Kanpur only for the second time in the last eight years as well. He brushed aside all the criticism that the venue has faced for its inability to make any cricket happen over a few minor drizzles and backed the idea of hosting Test cricket as well.
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“We have to go by the rotation policy,” he said. “Also, India has got now a lot many venues, which Australia and other countries don’t have. And we have to provide opportunities for all of them. Sometimes what happens is that those cities where people get to see a lot many matches…IPL is also there, and then WPL is also there, then World Cup is also there, bilateral matches are also there. So, the number of spectators goes down in those cities, because people are used to watching, you know, these T20 and one-day cricket and all that. So, that’s why this idea was floated that in B-grade cities, where we have got infrastructure, we should organise Test matches so that more and more people are attracted to it.”
“Look here (in Kanpur), it’s almost packed. And even the last two days when there were rains, a lot of people turned up to watch the match. That means there is appetite. People are eager to watch cricket,” he concluded.
