Rajeev Shukla Serves 'Permanent Centre' Reminder As Kanpur's Green Park Stadium Attracts Criticism
Amid increasing voice that Kanpur should never get to host an international match again due to its poor drainage, BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla defended what he described as a heritage venue.
The Green Park Stadium in Kanpur is one of India's oldest cricket venues. However, it wasn't in the news particularly for the right reasons as Days two and three of the India vs Bangladesh second Test at this ground were called off without a ball bowled. What irked a section of the fans and the cricket pundits alike was that there was no rain on Day 3. However, not a single ball was bowled even on that day due to wet patches on the field.
Amid increasing voice that Kanpur should never get to host an international match again due to its poor drainage, BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla defended what he described as a heritage venue.
"Well, criticism is one thing which we are used to in the administration of the BCCI in cricket. But everything is being criticised. When we are not giving matches to Kanpur because [of certain reasons], then also I was being criticised. Now we are giving the match and I am still being criticised why it has been given to Kanpur. So that goes on," Shukla said while speaking to the media on Day 4 of the second Test on Monday (September 30).
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"You know the problem is that this ground is around 80 years old. It is our heritage ground. If you remember it used to be a permanent Test centre. The original six permanent Test centres were Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kanpur. This is a permanent centre. So the whole idea was to have Test matches here. This is the first time in 80 years that it rained so much that we were not able to host the match for two days," he added.
History Suggests That No Match Has Been Abandoned Here In Kanpur
Shukla further pointed out that there hasn't been a single match in this venue which has had to be abandoned due to rain.
"The history suggests that no match has been abandoned here in Kanpur. There are many venues in the world where because of the rains, matches have been abandoned. So here if for two days the match couldn't take place, I don't think there should be too much hue and cry," Shukla said.
"When this ground was being built, and the stadium was being built, then those technologies were not available. Now technologies are available. Like in our Lucknow stadium, we have got that technology. And in Varanasi, we are building another stadium. There we have got high-tech, modern technology to take away the rainwater.
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