International cricket stadium likely in Bathinda district soon

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Bathinda, April 9

The district is expected to get an international cricket stadium soon. The project is likely to come up on thermal plant land in Bathinda.

It is learnt that the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) is planning to construct a cricket stadium here.

PCA president Amarjeet Mehta said, “We are planning to construct a cricket stadium in Bathinda and for the purpose, thermal plant land is under consideration”.

The PCA is planning to construct a Mohali-type stadium in Bathinda. If it comes through, it will give a fillip to budding cricketers and training academies will also come up here.

The government had announced to develop 1,464 acres of the now closed Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant in Bathinda in a planned manner. This land can be suitable for the project.

In 2007, the then Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, had laid the foundation stone of the international cricket stadium in the city with much fanfare, but the project failed to come up.

The stadium was to come up on land of Punjab Agricultural University Regional Research Centre at Jodhpur Romana village, which was transferred in the name of the government soon after the foundation stone was laid.

Earlier, the Bathinda Development Authority had prepared a cricket ground, but later, the government proposed to construct a fish market on the land. Now, the government has planned to give the land for the upcoming AIIMS project.

In 2021, the then Finance Minister, Manpreet Singh Badal, had proposed to the PCA to build an international-level cricket stadium in Bathinda.

In a letter to the association’s Chief Executive Officer Vikas Sharma, Manpreet Badal had asked him to consider a cricket stadium in Bathinda for international and IPL matches. The Bathinda District Cricket Association (BDCA) has also written to the CEO, requesting him to consider the proposal in the upcoming apex council meeting.