New Delhi: The BCCI will provide each World Cup stadium a grant of Rs 50 crore to improve its infrastructure before the major event.
Mumbai has new floodlights and corporate boxes; Lucknow has a resurfaced field; Kolkata has renovated dressing rooms; Dharamsala has a new outfield with imported grass; Pune has a new temporary roof; and Delhi has upgraded ticketing and restrooms. These are a few of the initiatives that will be carried out at the locations where the ICC 50-over World Cup matches will take place in October and November.
The cities of Ahmedabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Dharamsala, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Lucknow, and Kolkata will host World Cup matches. Warm-up contests to take place in Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati.
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Every stadium has various requirements. The outfield of Mumbai's Wankhede stadium, which will host four league games and a semifinal, will be redone. New LED lighting will also be installed, and the corporate boxes and restrooms will be updated.
New LED lights are being installed at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium, and the square has been excavated to make room for two red soil soccer fields. The fields in Lucknow, which will host India's game against England, will be redone after receiving a lot of criticism during the IPL. The seating and restrooms at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium are being renovated.
The HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala has already undergone a significant amount of construction. The location claims to be prepared to hold five World Cup games, including India's match against New Zealand. The location was not able to host the Test against Australia since remodelling work wasn't finished in time.
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The outfield features river sand and gravel that have been studied in a lab in Scotland, a new drainage system with 6,000 metres of speciality pipes, an air-evacuation system that can quickly remove extra rainwater, ryegrass that is apparently best suited for the cold weather and more. According to a statement from the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, ryegrass was first sowed in the winter at temperatures between 3 and 15 degrees and blended with Paspalum grass, which can withstand shade.
“We relaid the whole surface of the stadium and we did a makeover of VVIP and hospitality boxes too. We hired the best expert for the relaying process. We wanted to ensure we have good drainage facilities and got grass from abroad. We changed a few seats, painted the stands. There was a leakage problem, we fixed that too,” Arun Dhumal, an HPCA member told. “We wanted to ensure that after rain, the game should start as soon as possible.”
Before the big event, every World Cup stadium will receive a subsidy of Rs 50 crore to modernise its infrastructure. The 10 World Cup venues would each receive more than Rs 500 crore from the Indian Cricket Board's budget.
Amol Kale, the president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, promised that the Wankhede Stadium, which hosted the 2011 final, will have top-notch facilities and excellent hospitality.
“The process of infrastructure upgradation has already begun including a new outfield, upgrading to new LED lighting, renovation of the corporate boxes, and renovated new toilets,” Kale said.
The current Maharashtra Premier League (MPL), according to Maharashtra Cricket Association president Rohit Pawar, has given them a good notion of what has to be done to upgrade the Pune stadium.
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“We will see if we can have a few stands which can be covered, as three-quarters of the stadium doesn’t have a roof. We want to provide basic facilities like clean toilets, good roads and ample parking space. If any seats are in bad shape we will be replacing them. We will see whether the fencing metal is ok, the ticket readers are working or not. Our drainage system is fine, so are the floodlights,” Pawar told
Along with modernising the ticketing software, the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi is also refurbishing the spectator seats and restrooms.
“The floodlights at the stadium are of good quality, so we don’t have to change them. However, the seats are being changed and the toilets renovated. The software at the turnstiles will also be upgraded so the entry process for fans is smooth,” Delhi and District Cricket Association joint secretary Rajan Manchanda said. The grass at the ground has also been recarpeted during the off-season, he confirmed.
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