During the launch of the rugby ground (which was earlier a cricket facility) situated in Delhi University’s North Campus for the Commonwealth Games, sports minister M.S. Gill said that it would be a challenge to maintain the facilities. Seems his fears came true as now that the Games are over, the stadium may soon be converted back into a cricket facility.
Reports suggest that the varsity wants the OC to re-lay the cricket pitch. However, the Delhi University authorities are still confused about the issue as Sudershan Pathak, Dy Director, Physical Education, says that they are still “working on the matter”. “It would be decided very soon,” says Pathak, adding that the DU varsity and the CWG Organising Committee are in talks about the issue.
And while it is yet to be decided by the authorities, students with keen interest in sports think that the ground developed for rugby should be left like that as it has world class facilities which, in time, could help students. Sandeep Rawat, a Pol. Science student of Dyal Singh College, DU, who is also a member of the cricket team of his college, thinks that there are very many other grounds in the capital for cricket. “But for rugby there’s only this. Also, there are many who would like to foray into a different sport like rugby which is not very popular in our country. If we have a facility to play, we would definitely benefit from it,” says Sandeep.
Saurav Anand, a first year student of A.R.S.D college agrees. “Since we have no options to play different games, many of us go for popular sports like cricket, badminton, basketball, etc. Sports like rugby take a backseat. Even if one wants to play, because of lack of facilities one changes their mind. If we have developed an area for rugby, we should leave it like that for future use,” he says.
However, not everyone has the same opinion. There are few students who think that at a time when only a few in the city play a game like rugby, it would be a waste to reserve the ground for the sport. “Cricket is really popular among youth. Why not utilise the facilities available for enthusiastic cricketers than wait for people interested in rugby. We already have Ranji trophy playing cricketers in the campus while there are no rugby players. It would be better to convert the ground into a cricket pitch,” says Aniket Mishra, a student of Hansraj who plays cricket for his college.