With malfunctioning floodlights, scoreboard, erratic pitch and a lack of drinking water and an inefficient management there is strong doubts whether the next IPL match at Eden gardens scheduled on 29th will be played in this ground.
A five-member committee is being formed to look into the goof-ups galore that held to ransom the first IPL 20-20 cricket match at Eden Gardens. And if all the faults are not ironed out, the state sports department might not give its permission for the next IPL match to be held here on 29 April, a senior official of the department said - reports the Kolkata local newspaper Statesman.
Besides a malfunctioning scoreboard and lack of drinking water inside the stadium, IPL’s Kolkata match had to face a blackout when the floodlights in the stadium went off for about half an hour. The traffic situation around the stadium was also miserable on the day of the match, in spite of lean traffic on a Sunday.
The state sports minister, Mr Subhas Chakraborty today said a five-member committee was being formed to look into a number of hassles that nearly derailed the first IPL match that was held here on 20 April. The committee will be headed by the principal secretary, sports department and its members will be chief engineer, PWD (civil), the chief engineer PWD (electrical), a senior officer of the CESC, and the commissioner of Kolkata Police, or the additional commissioner I of Kolkata Police. Mr Chakraborty said the list of the names of committee members was sent to the chief minister for his approval today. A meeting at the chief secretary-level will be held tomorrow to finalise the committee formation, he added.
At the Kolkata Police headquarters in Lalbazar today, representatives of all the agencies involved with the cricket matches held on 20 April at Eden Garden were locked in meeting for about two hours. Representatives from CESC, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), PWD, Kolkata Police, management group IMG and Red Chillies Entertainment (the company managing Kolkata Knight Riders) discussed what measures could be taken to make sure the same mistakes were not repeated during the next six matches that are to take place in the city.
Working in ad hoc mode, CAB chief Mr Prasun Mukherjee said it had been decided in today’s meeting that the CAB would take sole charge of the scoreboard for future matches. The charge of the scoreboard’s maintenance had been given to a private agency. As for the floodlights, inspections would be carried out both today and tomorrow morning by engineers from CAB, CESC and the chief electrical inspector to ascertain what had gone wrong, Mr Goutam Mohan Chakrabarty, commissioner, city police, said.
Mr Mukherjee blamed the infrastructure of an “old stadium” for the mess on 20 April. “Seven matches taking place consecutively is a strain for any stadium. Eden Gardens is an old stadium. Until things are revamped we will have to make do with what we have,” he said. The CAB chief added that the IPL format was a “learning experience” for the CAB management.
He also said many of the bulbs of the floodlights are old, and may need to be replaced. About complaints against the pitch, Mr Mukherjee said the next match would not be played on the same pitch, after it was inspected by BCCI pitch and grounds committee chairman Mr Daljit Singh.
Four mini-control rooms will also be formed under the stadium, and these will be connected to a main control room in Kolkata Police headquarters, in case of any snag during the matches, Mr Chakrabarty said. The control rooms will have staff from the CAB, PWD civil, PWD electrical, CESC and Kolkata Police.
Too many goof ups in a match which really speaks of an unprofessional approach and a managing body filled with inefficient and useless people. What more can you expect when sports and sports bodies in this country are politicized in all sphere.
© IPL Cricket Forum
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drinking water,
Eden Gardens,
erratic pitch,
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