NEWS
Follow UsEven before its start, the Kanpur Test involving India and Bangladesh is in the headlines for the wrong reasons as Uttar Pradesh’s Public Works Department (PWD) declared one of the stands in the stadium ‘C’ stand as unsafe on September 26 (Thursday).
On the eve of the second Test of the two-Test series, the PWD, along with members from the engineering department at Harcourt Butler Technical University, Kanpur inspected the ground and came to the conclusion above.
However, Sanjay Kapoor, the venue director, put this down as a routine inspection.
"Whenever an event is held anywhere, government departments conduct their surveys. PWD and HBTU also conducted their inspection three days before the match and found that some seats in C block cannot be used for spectators as it is not safe,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Kapoor saying.
The oldest block in the stadium, the ‘C’ block, has been under repair even before the start of the Test and due to this, the seating of 4800 has been reduced to 1750.
“We are going for full capacity in the lower block,” Kapoor added.
Floodlights had been a major concern in the last Test held at the venue. In 2021, with New Zealand’s last batting pair at the crease and India needing just one more wicket to win, the umpires ended the game 12 minutes earlier because of poor light and the floodlights not being good enough to prove equal to natural lighting.
However, this time around, things have changed according to Kapoor. "All the floodlights are fine and ready to use. To avoid the terror of monkeys, we have made two-tier arrangements."
The Kanpur Test, starting September 27 (Friday), will be the last in the series and India, who are already 1-0 up, would aim for a clean sweep.
If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out on our content — big time. Download the App here.
