Amidst mayhem, Mirpur groundsmen emerge heroes
MIRPUR: Sunday began as a hot and humid day in Dhaka. By evening, though, it somehow turned into a storm — a tempest to be precise. As India prepared to face Bangladesh in the final of the Asia Cup, for a few minutes, the possibility of staging the match seemed remote.
With no reserve day scheduled, a match on the day was imperative to find the winner. If not for the Sher-e Bangla stadium’s fine drainage system, the match would have most certainly been washed out.
Across the border, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, washouts have happened in less than half the rainfall Dhaka witnessed on Sunday.
Just as the players reached the stadium, a light drizzle began, it soon subsided and both sides began their pre-game training drills. But, soon a gust of wind, rain and dust flew across the ground. Players were forced to run for cover, the high-velocity winds knocking material off the stadium roof and blowing the giant covers away till as far as the stands. POWERS OUT Things went from bad to worse and the stadium plunged into darkness as a power outage during the storm saw all six floodlight towers shutting down simultaneously. The ground staff, which was busy laying down the covers, too had to run for cover in the darkness. Attempts were made to switch on the lights twice, but both times they tripped.
As thunder and lightning held sway, the game looked far from certain. With a jam-packed crowd expected for the highstake clash, there was a sea of people lining up on the streets waiting to get in. There was disorder all around as people on the streets ran for safety from the pummeling rain.
Eventually, the angry clouds passed over and gave a chance for the drainage system to work its magic. The crowds began to settle down and by the end of the first inspection there was little doubt that the match won’t start.
The start was delayed by oneand-a-half hours. Five overs per side were lost and curator Gamini Silva can take credit for the stupendous work by his team.