The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) will soon develop a cricket ground in the state. The initiative is all set to take place after the Hassan Urban Development Authority (HUDA) handed over 14 acres of land in the developing S.M. Krishna Layout which is situated on the outskirts of the city which is located 183 kilometres away from Bangalore. The ground will be constructed as per international standards.
Both the parties – the KSCA and HUDA have agreed on the utilisation of the ground on Thursday. The cricket board is confident that the land would be developed within the next seven or eight month.
The agreement states that that the association has got the land lease for 30 years which would see the lessee pay an amount of ₹3.5 lakh a year as rent. The lease amount will appreciate by 5% each passing year.
“The lease period starts on November 1 this year. We are committed to building a turf wicket ground, a dressing room, a pavilion and, in the coming days, a gym, swimming pool and other facilities,” said R. Sudhakar Rao, secretary of KSCA, at a press conference.
KSCA initially aimed to get 23 acres for the ground but the legal tussle due to layout’s development had to face opposition from farmers in the area made it impossible to acquire the desired amount of land.
“We decided to hand over 14 acres of land to the KSCA only after [the matter] was cleared in court. Besides that, we have allotted sites to the public in the layout. If the cricket ground comes up soon, the layout will also develop in a short span of time,” said H.R. Krishna Kumar, chairman of HUDA.
The land will be formally handed over to the KSCA by the civic authority in a programme on Saturday. The event will be attended by members of the Karnataka cricket team and KSCA office-bearers.
Mr Rao revealed that budget of the entire project would be determined after the preparation of a detailed project report for developing the ground. It is expected that the report will be out in a week.
“Based on our engineering team’s report, the association will fix the budget and start the work. Once the ground is ready, we will hold league matches initially and then, we may conduct camps for cricketers,” he said.
The secretary also said that they are looking forward to hosting international matches in Hassan when all the other necessary requirements are met.
“Besides the international-standard ground, we need airport connectivity and five-star hotel facilities to organise such matches,” he said.
“KSCA has already developed grounds in popular cricket hubs of the state like Hubballi, Shivamogga, Mysuru and Belagavi,” Mr. Rao added.