Pathetic stadium forces UPCA to 'concede' Test

KANPUR: Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) has forfeited the right to host the Test match against New Zealand, which was slated to be held here at Green Park stadium from November 12 to 16.
The reason behind the withdrawal is the pathetic condition of the state government-owned stadium and its under-construction Students Gallery, according to UPCA honorary secretary Rajeev Shukla.
Talking to TOI, Shukla said that the Students Gallery, which has one-fourth of the stadium capacity, has been totally demolished and is under construction.
"It means that one-fourth of the spectator capacity would be deprived of witnessing the match, besides being dangerous to them," Shukla said. "The situation is not ideal to host such an important event, although we were not looking at the revenue loss that would have resulted," he added.
The honorary secretary said that last week he was in Kanpur and had inspected the Green Park stadium. He was stunned after witnessing the Students stand. "Only pillars have been erected so far and it was quite impossible to complete the construction work by November 12".
I had a chat with curator Shiv Kumar and other responsible persons there and all of them confirmed his opinion that it would be impossible to complete the construction work before the match, Shukla informed.
Another reason was the worldwide coverage of the match. "TV would beam that under-construction part regularly during the five days and that would tarnish the image and prestige of both UP as well as of the UPCA. Due to all these reasons we have decided not to conduct the match and have communicated to the BCCI a couple of days ago," he said.