Uttar Pradesh's Public Works Department deems part of Green Park 'dangerous' days before second IND-BAN Test

Balcony C stand at the Green Park in Kanpur has been deemed 'dangerous' by the Uttar Pradesh's Public Works Department (PWD) a couple of days before the commencement of the second Test between India and Bangladesh.

The CEO of the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association, Ankit Chatterjee, himself shared the details as well as the number of seats which will be on sale for the public, which has been literally cut down by 50% of its capacity.

“The PWD has raised some issues and we have agreed that we will not sell all the tickets of Balcony C. 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,” stated Chatterjee, as quoted by The Indian Express.

According to an engineer associated with the PWD, there was a big threat linked with a huge crowd assembling in that corner of the venue. 

“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,” added a person from the engineering department of the PWD.

There have also been reports that PWD officers and UPCA officials had held a meeting at around 5 pm yesterday near the stand and came to the conclusion that, that particular stand would not be able to withstand the entire capacity.

Also Read: IND vs BAN: Security beefed up in Kanpur after reports of protest near Green Park Stadium

Floodlights continue to be a bottleneck

A sports department officer also highlighted that there was a severe issue with eight bulbs near one of the pavillions as well as hoped for an encore of the India-New Zealand Test in 2021 to not occur.

“Eight bulbs of the floodlight near the VIP pavilion are not working properly. 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,” mentioned a sports department officer.

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Interestingly, it was courtesy a stoic resistance from Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel for the last wicket which just about saved New Zealand from going down in the Kanpur Test, with bad light meaning the Indian team having to settle for an agonizing draw.