Ekana stadium to host men, women T20 matches
LUCKNOW: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has picked up Lucknow’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium for the conduct of its two major events in the new domestic season, starting September 28.
For the first time, the Ekana Sportz City-owned stadium will see the commencement of the Elite Group A league matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy from November 4 to 9.
This will be followed by the Women’s Senior T20 Elite Group C matches from March 3 to 9. Teams like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Railways, Himachal, Chandigarh and Delhi would be the part of the event.
This isn’t all as the venue would also be hosting the knockout matches of the Women’s Senior T20 from March 16 with the final to be played on March 22.
As far as the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy is concerned, defending champions Tamil Nadu, former champions Maharashtra and four-time runners-up Punjab along with Odisha, Goa and Pondicherry would be the six teams in action here. Three matches, including two on the main ground and one on the B ground would be played daily. The teams will reach the state capital on October 27 and would remain quarantined for one week till November 1.
In the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, Uttar Pradesh would be playing their Elite Group D league matches at Pune from March 3 to 9. Other teams in the fray are: Vidarbha, Gujarat, Baroda, Goa and Uttarakhand.
Their men’s counterparts are slated in Elite Group E and would be playing their league matches also from March 4 to 9 in Haryana. Champions in 2015-16, Uttar Pradesh have been clubbed with Chandigarh, Saurashtra, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Hyderabad.