No major damages to the MA Chidambaram Stadium due to Cyclone Vardah

The fifth and final Test match between India and England, which literally was under dark clouds due to the Cyclone Vardah, will take place start as per schedule on December 16 at the Chepauk. The city was Chennai was on a high alert after severe cyclone Vardah lashed the Tamil Nadu capital on Monday evening.

Tamil Nadu Cricket Association secretary Kashi Viswanathan assessed the damage and said that although centre strip and the outfield have not been affected by the cyclone, the sight screen has been badly damaged, the bulbs of the floodlights blown off, a number of air-conditioners also got damaged and those need to be set in order in the next two days.

“The assuring part is that the pitch and the outfield has not been affected by the cyclone. But sightscreen has been damaged. The bulbs have blown off, air conditioners damaged. There have been hundreds of tree trunks lying in the road leading up to the stadium. Our challenge is to set everything in order in the next two days. I am confident we will be able to set everything right,” Viswanthan said.

Earlier, there was another sensitive issue that was potentially threatening the final Test of the series. On December 5th, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalatitha’s demise caused chaos in the city. There was a sort of unrest as supporters filled the streets mourning the death of their leader.

However, the TNCA, couple of days after the sad event, clarified that the match was under no threat of getting abandoned and will be hosted it was planned after the police officials gave them a green signal on the security issue.

Talking about the ongoing series, India is currently leading England 3-0 after winning their third consecutive match at the Wankhede Stadium Mumbai.