Hyderabad gets ready for big test
Sept. 16: The Hyderabad Cricket Association will leave no blade of grass unttended at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium as it gears up to host the India-New Zealand Test in November.
“Groundwork for the big game will begin as soon as the on-going Moin-ud Dowla tournament ends, on September 23,” HCA and BCCI vice-president N. Shivlal Yadav said, promising a “perfect pitch and an excellent outfield at the RGICS.”
“We need to upgrade a few facilities in the pavilion building though, but that would be done soon,” he added.
The RGICS is near-complete with the canopy roofs for the north and south stands pending.
Having worked their way back into the elite group, the HCA is planning to celebrate the success in a big way. “The programmes will be thrashed out at the HCA executive committee meeting but I can say that it will be a memorable event... a huge festival,” Shivlal assured.
High on the events list are boosting clubs that make up the HCA and honouring Test cricketers from Hyderabad, three of whom — Arshad Ayub (president), Shivlal himself and S. L. Venkatapathi Raju (vice-presidents) — are current office-bearers in the HCA.
“Also, we are cannot thank the BCCI authorities enough for elevating the status of Hyderabad. They all will be special invitees for the match,” Shivlal said.
Hyderabad, which lost Test status after match referees blasted the conditions at the multi-purpose Lal Bahadur Stadium terming it unfit for international cricket, was re-admitted into Test fold after the state-of-the-art RGICS was cleared by the ICC in June this year.
The city last hosted a Test in December 1988, a game India won by 10 wickets. Ironically, the opponents were New Zealand. The venue search for the second Test in the series began after Kanpur, which was scheduled to host the game, said it was under-prepared as a section of the stands at the Green Park Stadium was being rebuilt. Second choice Kolkata cited renovation of the Eden Gardens for next year’s World Cup as the reason for it being unwilling. Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium too is being renovated.
Hyderabad had already been allotted the third game of the five-match ODI series (against New Zealand), to be played on December 4 prior to Kanpur backing out of its commitment.
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