KANPUR, Sept 25 (Agencies): Three days before the second Test between India and Bangladesh at Kanpur's Green Park Stadium, the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) has deemed one of the stands dangerous.
The government officials felt that the structure may not be able to take the load of the full capacity of the stand during the match and could come down.
As a result, less than half the capacity of the Balcony C stand will be up for sale during the Test.
"The PWD has raised some issues and we have agreed that we will not sell all the tickets of Balcony C," UPCA CEO Ankit Chatterjee told The Indian Express. "We have been told to sell only 1700 tickets for the stand, which has a capacity of 4,800. The repair work will continue for the next couple of days," he added.
According to PWD officials, there is a big risk if a sizable crowd assembles in that particular part of the stadium. On Tuesday, a group of engineers spent nearly six hours at the Balcony C stand. They have warned the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) to close the stand during the match starting on Friday.
"This stand won't be able to take the weight of even 50 fans, if they start jumping after Rishabh Pant hits a six. This part of the stadium is in dire need of repair," a PWD engineer told this paper.
At 5 PM when the workers left the stands, both parties - PWD officers and UPCA officials - held a meeting near the stand and agreed that it wouldn't be able to take the load to its full capacity.
If the pillars of the old stands can't take the weight of the fans, the floodlights at the stadium can also be a concern if bad light affects the game. The Green Park Stadium is owned by the Uttar Pradesh government's sports department and in recent years, has not had much international exposure. One of the main reasons is the recently-built Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, which has better facilities and the UPCA also functions out of there. "This stadium is not directly under UPCA, and we have a clear window of 40 days before a match to get it ready. We have done our best to keep everything intact before this important World Test Championship (WTC) match," said Chatterjee.
Meanwhile, according to the weather forecasting company, Accuweather, there are high chances of rain ahead and during the Test match. On September 26, i.e. on the eve of the game, there are 79 per cent chances of rainfall with thunderstorms expected. On Day 1 of the match on September 27, the precipitation chances go up to 92 per cent with thunderstorms predicted throughout the day.
