Uppal stadium upgradation to be completed before ODI World Cup; ICC team ‘happy’ with facilities

While most of the sewage and drainage works have already been completed, the officials will place an order for new seats by the weekend

Hyderabad: The International Cricket Committee (ICC) team inspected the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, which is one of the 12 venues hosting the Men’s ODI World Cup beginning on October 5, in Hyderabad on Monday and they were happy with the progress, said K Durga Prasad who is assisting the single-member committee of Justice L Nageswara Rao in running the HCA affairs.

A team of 20 members – comprising broadcasting, maintenance, operations and other departments, has inspected the venue for over two and half hours. “They were happy with the facilities and suggested a few changes. They will send a detailed report in a week or so. Once we receive that, we will make necessary changes,” revealed Durga Prasad.

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He further added that the upgradation will be completed before the world cup begins. “The upgradation of the stadium has begun already. We started replacing the flood lights with LEDs. The work on the damaged canopy at the South end began and we will hopefully have canopies over East and West stands for the World Cup matches.

“Since we will have canopy all round, we have remove the giant screen and instead will install two screens. The BCCI said they would take care of turnstiles like at all the World Cup venues,” added former director general of CRPF.

While most of the sewage and drainage works have already been completed, the officials will place an order for new seats by the weekend. “The North and South galleries will have new seating at the ground level. Because of the canopy work, we may not be able to change the entire seating. You will start noticing visible changes in a month’s time. And hopefully by the start of the World Cup, we will have a new look to the stadium.”

The HCA have asked the BCCI to make the payment directly to the vendors instead of giving it to the association. “They (BCCI) were ready to release the money. But we have asked them to pay the vendors directly. We will place the order once the BCCI gives a go-ahead to the proposals. We will handle payments of small works. But BCCI will take care of the majority of payments.”

He further said that they have allotted Rs 2.5 cr for the new equipment for the ground. We will have super soppers, grass cutting machines, rollers and other equipment.