Cricket lovers irked at PCA for denying city int’l ground

Neeraj Bagga

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 18

Cricket lovers are irked at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) for denying an international-level cricket ground to the city while giving one more ground to Mohali.

A former cricketer, Rakesh Handa, said there were 22 districts in the state and the PCA was setting up a second stadium in Mohali district, which already has an international stadium.

He said a few years back, the PCA had rejected the demand for elevating Amritsar’s cricket stadium to the international level on the premise that one international stadium at Mohali was enough, as a limited edition of matches are allotted to Punjab.

Responding to an RTI plea filed by a city-based cricket lover, Michael Emmanuel, the Sports Department clarified that no proposal had been received in this regard from the district administration, which ran the affairs of the Gandhi cricket ground.

He said announcements of expansion and upgrade of the Gandhi cricket ground into an international stadium were made many a time by political leaders.

Though Amritsar’s Gandhi cricket ground hosted many international and first-class cricket tournaments, its construction is yet to be completed. At several points, steps and stairs are yet to be constructed while the existing ones are in a ramshackle state.

Many portions around the ground still lie vacant where staircases are yet to be constructed. If completed, it would increase the present capacity of the stadium to 40,000.

The ground had hosted last international match between India and New Zealand in 1995. Since then, it was not developed in consonance with internationally required infrastructure and has lost the race to be counted among the venues for hosting international matches.

Established in 1932 with a generous donation from Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala and the then Punjab Government, the ground is spread on 22 acres.

Subsequently, Guru Nanak Stadium, badminton hall, AGA Club and Virsa Vihar were formed out of it. The cricket stadium now stands on nine acres.

The cricket ground hosted several international matches, including those against West Indies, Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England. The Indian cricket team had played against Sri Lanka in 1983. The North Zone cricket team had played against West Indies in 1984. India versus World XI and India versus New Zealand matches were played in 1995.