By Jaideep Sarin, IANS
Chandigarh : For a ground that has been home to the legendary Kapil Dev and other cricketers like Yograj Singh, Chetan Sharma and even Harbhajan Singh, 14 years of virtual exile from international cricket is a really long time. But things are set to change Monday when the picturesque Sector 16 stadium here will host the fourth one-day international (ODI) match between India and Australia.
The 28,000-capacity stadium is expected to be full as ticket sales that started Thursday have been brisk. Stampede-like situations were seen at the limited ticket sales counters set up in the city.
The last match played in this stadium was between India and England on Jan 21, 1993. The stadium has so far hosted four ODIs and one Test match (1990 between India and Sri Lanka) and numerous first-class matches.
The first ODI played here was in January 1985. The stadium even hosted a Reliance World Cup match between Australia and New Zealand in 1987.
It was after the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) built one of the best stadiums in India in 1993-94 at Mohali town in Punjab, 10 km from here, that the Chandigarh stadium fell on bad days. As the Mohali ground kept getting one international match after another, the Sector 16 stadium was relegated to the background.
For nearly a decade, the stadium was not even allotted a first class match.
The ground and the stands cried for maintenance during this period.
It was only in 2006 that two practice matches involving international teams like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the West Indies were allotted to this stadium in the run up to the Champions Trophy held in India. The Australian team also practised in this stadium before their ODI match at the PCA stadium in Mohali.
Given this fact, the present Australian team will not be entirely unfamiliar with the ground.
Though a new pitch has been laid under PCA stadium curator Daljeet Singh’s supervision, the Sector 16 stadium has not witnessed any high-scoring matches so far.
The highest score by any team in an ODI here is by Australia itself when it scored 251 runs against New Zealand in the Reliance world cup match in October 1987. The highest score by India on this ground is 201 runs against England.
The stadium has been completely renovated in the last few months by the Chandigarh administration at a cost of Rs.45 million. A new media centre, upgraded dressing rooms and pavilion enclosure, an electronic scoreboard, better seating arrangements are among the things done at the stadium to prepare it for the ODI.
“The Sector 16 cricket stadium is ready to host the one-day international cricket match,” Haryana Cricket Association (HCA) president Ranbir Singh Mahendra, who was formerly president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said here.
The stadium is not looking at the upcoming match alone. Mahendra has already promised more fixtures here from the games allotted to the HCA.
“Upgradation of the stadium had started eight months ago and was to be completed entirely by March next year but in between the Oct 8 ODI came, so things were advanced. The upgradation work will be over well before the ODI, only the floodlights will be installed next year,” Chandigarh’s finance and sports secretary S.K. Sandhu said.
Despite a minor fire incident at the new media centre here Thursday, the administration is upbeat that the match here will take place smoothly.