New Central College sports facility to be ready next year

Bengaluru: The four-annas ticket, the concrete floors which served as seats and the peanut seller are long gone, but what remained testimony to the evolution of cricket culture in Karnataka was the Central College ground. Stalwarts like G Kasturirangan, GR Viswanath, BS Chandrashekar, EAS Prasanna, Syed Kirmani, Brijesh Patel and Roger Binny honed their skills at this venue.It was here that Dr K Thimmappiah became the first player from the state (then Mysore) to score a century. The ground has also played host to legends like Gary Sobers and Bert Sutcliffe.
The sprawling facility is now all gravel and rubble, but not for long. The Bengaluru City University is set to revive the glory of this storied cricket ground with a multi-discipline state-of-the-art infrastructure. The project, budgeted at Rs 70 crore, began last year and is expected to be functional by this time next year.
“Historically, Bangalore University was known as much for sports as it was for academic courses. The Central College ground is steeped in history and it is one of our priorities. As part of redevelopment, we decided to restore most of the infrastructure. A budget of Rs 150 crore was proposed, out of which Rs 70 crore has been earmarked for sports infrastructure,” BCU Vice-Chancellor Lingaraja Gandhi told TOI.
On the facilities at the venue, Gandhi said, “The indoor arena will host sports like badminton, table tennis, kickboxing, a gymnasium and also a cafeteria. An international standard swimming pool too is coming up along with an athletics track. We will have a cricket stadium with all modern facilities.”
Sports science courses too are on the anvil with the varsity university keen on partnering with domain experts from the public and private sectors.
KEEN ON ASSOCIATION WITH
UNIVERSITIES ABROAD
BCU is in talks with universities abroad to expand its academic programmes. Sports will be part of it. “BCU has had talks with four universities in the UK including University of Bath, Birmingham City University and University of the Highlands and Islands. We have expressed interest in partnering for curriculum development, joint tourneys, exchange programmes for both students and sportspersons.”
SPORTS POLICY
With Covid-19 impacting decision making at the four-year-old university, Gandhi said they were currently following the undivided Bangalore University’s policy. The policy has drawn flak for being outdated especially in terms of provisions for TA, DA and kitting of athletes. “We are a young university and still learning. The Sports Advisory Committee, formed by BCU, is drafting the new policy,” he said.