Kanpur’s Green Park to host Test in Nov; T20I to be played at Lucknow’s Ekana stadium in March
LUCKNOW The BCCI on Monday announced that Kanpur’s Green Park stadium will host the first Test between India and New Zealand from November 25 to 29. The Test is part of a twomatch series between the two sides. Also, Lucknow’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium will host the third Twenty20 International (T20I) match of a three-match series between India and Sri Lanka on March 18 next year.
LUCKNOW: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced that the Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium would host the first Test between India and New Zealand from November 25 to 29. The Test is part of a two-match series between the two sides.
Lucknow’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium would host the third Twenty20 International (T20I) match of a three-match series between India and Sri Lanka on March 18 next year.
With Green Park making the cut, the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) has kept its “promise” to save the Test status of the Kanpur venue in the association’s election year. The first Test of the two-match series against the Kane Williamson led Kiwis would be the 23rd Test match at Green Park. This venue hosted its first Test match in January 1952 when the Nigel Howard-led England scored an eight wicket win against Vijay Hazare’s India.
Ever since the Ekana Stadium with better facilities came up in 2017, the focus had shifted to the new stadium and there were no major activities in Kanpur after the conduct of a Test match between India and New Zealand there in September 2016.
All 100-odd UPCA life members, mostly from Kanpur and the members of 37 districts across the state, too were “apprehensive” of shifting all the cricketing activities to Lucknow. The only way to tackle this situation was to get the hosting rights for an international match at Green Park, they felt.
The Test match in November soon after the Twenty20 World Cup in UAE is seen as a shot in the arm for BCCI vice-president and UPCA director Rajiv Shukla ahead of the crucial UPCA election due just after the annual general meeting of the BCCI in the near future. The former UPCA secretary had always backed the Kanpur stadium as a “perfect Test venue”.
“It’s a good move by UPCA authorities, including Shukla Ji, to bring a Test match to the Green Park Stadium as saving its Test status was a must. Otherwise, there was no meaning in paying more than Rs 1 crore per year as rent for the venue to the state government,” said a UPCA insider on condition of anonymity.
“This will also help the UPCA brass in Kanpur retain the trust of the majority of the members ahead of the UPCA election, which will also see the end of two terms of the present secretary Yudhveer Singh,” he said.
He also confirmed that a UPCA heavyweight from western Uttar Pradesh was keen to contest for the secretary’s post, but things are expected to be sorted out “amicably” between the so-called rival factions as no one wants voting for any post.
“It happened in the past also when a former Ranji Trophy cricketer from Kanpur had raised his voice for election, but later decided not to contest,” he added.
A senior UPCA official from the adjoining district of Kanpur is tipped to be the next secretary of the cricket body. The present secretary Singh is expected to quit his post on Wednesday as his six-year tenure, as per the Lodha Committee recommendations, expires that day. And if this happens, Rae Bareli’s Mohd Fahim, a joint secretary, will take charge as the acting secretary till the elections are held.
“This is what the Lodha Committee directives say as Singh has to leave his post on Wednesday (September 22) after completing two tenures of three years each and opt for a three-year cooling off period,” said another UPCA official, refusing to be identified.
The newly built “Players Pavilion” with a seating capacity of 1500 plus for the spectators on top of it would also be used for the first time in the Test match at the Green Park Stadium.
For the Ekana Stadium, the T20I match in March 2022 would be India’s second T20I match at this venue after their first tie against West Indies in 2018. The venue has so far hosted 21 international matches, including 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is, one Test match between Afghanistan and West Indies, five ODIs and 3 T20Is between India and South Africa women and five ODIs between the Under-23 teams of India and Bangladesh.