KSCA to develop cricket ground on the outskirts of the Hassan city

Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) is all set to develop a brand new cricket stadium on the outskirts of the city. Hassan Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has handed over a land of 14 acres in the newly built S.M. Krishna Layout to the cricket association. They are now confident of staging an international cricket match in the upcoming seven to eight months at the venue. Soon, they would be starting with the construction of the ground.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is always upbeat about staging a cricket match in the new stadiums. Many cricket grounds around the country made their debuts across the format in the grand home season of 2016/17. Also, in the ongoing season, they awarded the newly built international stadiums in Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram a game each. While the former hosted Australia in the second T20I, the latter is set to welcome New Zealand in the same format on November 7.

Land handed over formally on Saturday

The HUDA organised a programme to handover the land formally on Saturday. Members of Karnataka cricket team and office bearers of the KSCA also attended the event. The KSCA has got the land for thirty years on lease at the rate of ₹ 3.5 lakh per year as rent. The rental amount increases at the rate of five percent every year. The secretary of the association confirmed the news during the press conference.

“The lease period starts on November 1, this year. We are committed to build a turf wicket ground, a dressing room, pavilion and in the coming days a gym, a swimming pool and other facilities will come up. Based on the report the association will fix the budget and start the work. Once the ground is ready, we will hold league matches initially and then we may conduct camps for cricketers under different age groups,” said R. Sudhakar Rao.

The chairman of HUDA, H.R.Krishna Kumar informed that the layout will be developed soon for the cricket stadium and also said that the land was handed over after the court had cleared it. “We decided to handover 14 acres of land to the KSCA only after the court cleared it. Besides that, we have already allotted sites to the public in the layout. If the cricket grounds comes up soon, the layout will also develop in a short span of time,” he said.