 "Green Park Stadium in Kanpur will not sell all the tickets for India vs Bangladesh Test due to repair issue. Image: UPCA on X")
India’s second Test against Bangladesh at Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium will not see a full house as the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) has forced the organisers to not fill the Balcony C stand due to its poor condition, while the security measures have been tightened in the city considering the threat of protest by local Hindu groups.
After the PWD raised issues, the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association decided not to sell all the tickets to the Balcony C stand.
“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.”
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A PWD engineer revealed that the Green Park Stadium is in “dire need of repair” and allowing fans in Balcony C can be dangerous.
“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 said.
The Green Park stadium is owned by the Uttar Pradesh government’s sports department.
“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,” added Chatterjee.
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The report has revealed that the floodlights at the Kanpur stadium can also be a problem as some of the bulbs are not working.
“Eight bulbs of the floodlight near the VIP pavilion are not working properly,” a sports department officer told the Indian Express.
“In Kanpur, visibility has always been a problem. It’s mostly because of the pollution. The last time, India failed to win the Test against New Zealand at this venue because of bad light, ironically when all the floodlights were on. Hopefully, we won’t have to go through that embarrassment again.”
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Meanwhile, the UP state government is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure the best security possible to both India and Bangladesh who have already arrived in the city. An FIR has also been filed against 20 members of the Akhilesh Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha for allegedly organising a ‘havan’ by obstructing the road before the stadium in protest against atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh.
Strict security in Kanpur
Currently, 2000 police personnel have been deployed for the security of the teams and VVIPs.
“Nearly 2,000 cops have been deployed for the security of the teams and VVIPs. The Green Park stadium has also been sealed and over a 1,000 police personnel have been deployed in and around the stadium for the match as part of foolproof security measures,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Harish Chander said.
“We are not taking any chances with the security and even the teams have been asked to strictly adhere to the guidelines. Team members have been asked to give an advance notice before heading out of the hotel,” an official said, pleading anonymity.
The UP Police is also in touch with the central and state agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau (IB), to track any security threat.
To have a proper control of the situation the Green Park stadium and Hotel Landmark, where the teams are staying, have been divided into sectors, zones and sub-zones, and are being manned by DCP, additional DCP and ACP rank officials, respectively.
“We are reviewing the security arrangements to leave no stone unturned and (are) confident of getting an adequate police force to meet the requirements,” Chander added.