After a great week at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai for India with their 280-run victory against Bangladesh, the attention has moved toward the second game of the series at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. But the question stands if the ground is safe and fit enough to be available for the game.
Just three weeks before the start of the game, the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) has addressed one of the stands for India’s Test in Kanpur as dangerous. The government officials feared that the structure could come down during the game if it failed to take the load of the full capacity.
As a result of the development, less than half the capacity of the Balcony C stand will be up for sale during the stand, but does that decrease any potential risk of the fans enjoying the game from that stand?
“The PWD has raised some issues, and we have agreed that we will not sell all the tickets of Balcony C.” The UPCA CEO, Ankit Chatterjee, told the ‘Indian Express.’ “We have been told to sell only 1700 tickets for the stand, which has a capacity of 4,800. The repair work will continue for the next couple of days.”
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If the condition of the stands hasn’t changed since the last Test match for India against New Zealand at this venue in 2021, then the speculation is around the decision of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to organize this Test match in Kanpur.
Poor floodlight could hamper India vs Bangladesh second Test in Kanpur
The PWD officials have revealed that there could be a huge risk if a certain amount of crowd assembles at a particular area of the stadium during the Test match. Two days before the beginning of the game, a group of engineers spent nearly six hours at the Balcony C stand as they warned the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) to close the stand during the game, which will start on Friday.
“This stand won’t be able to take the weight of even 50 fans if they start jumping after Rishabh Pant hits a six. This part of the stadium is in dire need of repair.” A PWD engineer told the newspaper.
At dusk, when the workers left the stands having gone through their check-ups, the UPCA officials and the PWD officers held a meeting between themselves and decided that the stand wouldn’t be able to carry the full capacity during the second Test match between India and Bangladesh.
The currently built Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium in Lucknow hosted the games in the ODI World Cup 2023, which has better facilities, and the UPCA also functions there. On the other hand, the Green Park Stadium, which hosted the historic 500th Test match for India against New Zealand in 2016, hasn’t got much international exposure in recent years.
“This stadium is not directly under UPCA, and we have a clear window of 40 days before a match to get it ready. We have done our best to keep everything intact before this important World Test Championship (WTC) match.” Chatterjee expressed.
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The floodlights have been an issue. Last time, the last-wicket pair Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel drew the game for India as the game ended in a draw due to the poor visibility in the last session on the fifth day.
“Eight bulbs of the floodlight near the VIP pavilion are not working properly.” A sports department officer shaded light. In Kanpur, visibility has always been a problem. It’s mostly because of the pollution. The last time, India failed to win the Test against New Zealand at this venue because of bad light, ironically when all the floodlights were on.”