Rebirth of Kotla, death of a story

NEW DELHI, October 30: If perchance you are reading this, please observe two minutes of silence. The death of a story a story as seemingly endless as the non-completion of renovation work at the Ferozeshah Kotla demands as much. The DDCA, after years of generously allowing the media to recycle updates on a stadium perpetually under construction, has finally scripted an ending to the project and the story too.
The new story: officially-speaking, the Kotla is now equipped to house 47,000 spectators, up from the capacity of 38,000 during the India-England ODI in March 2006.And though renovation has consumed almost Rs 60 crore, statutory grants for infrastructure development from the BCCI (Rs 20 crore), corporate sponsorship (ONGC Rs 4 crore, ITC & Tata Rs 5 crore each, TVS Rs 6 crore, Vodafone Rs 2 crore, Jaypee Group Rs 2 crore, corporate box seats Rs 12 crore), and the DCCA's own funds (Rs 4 crore) have ensured that the account books of the exercise don't bear a debit column.
Plus, with the inauguration of the 'new, improved, complete, etc' stadium having been tentatively slated for a day or two before India take on Pakistan in the Test at the Kotla starting on November 22, and the fan-friendly DDCA deciding to throw the stadium's gates open to an expected audience of 8,000 for the Delhi-Pakistan practice match on November 2, one need not look further than the Kotla for a dose of feel-good.
Moreover, with an ultra-optimistic DDCA threatening to install floodlights and an electronic scoreboard at the Kotla by January 31 next year, apart from completing work on a hi-tech gym, additional practice pitches and in-stadia residential accommodation by the end of 2008, chances of our dead story being reborn in soap opera-style seem bleak for the present.
Why, with the DDCA in ominous question-answering form, journalistic grilling faces extinction.
So what if renovation of the Kotla took an agonisingly long four years? "Because," as DCCA general secretary SP Bansal explains, "work was planned in such a manner that the stadium could continue to be a venue for cricket matches throughout this period" and not because the DDCA "ran short of funds" or "faced problems to do with the contractor" as claimed by other quarters.
So what if, like always, paying spectators for the upcoming India-Pakistan Test are likely to be outnumbered by freeloaders (read: everybody who is, or knows, a somebody)? "Because," as Bansal explains, "Around 25,000 tickets will still be available over the counter."
And so what if time will stop till the eleventh hour before the DDCA secures the assorted clearance certificates it needs from the MCD, the Delhi Fire Service, the Delhi Police (Central District), the Traffic Police and the Licensing Department to host the November 22-26 Test? "Because," as numerous voices in the DDCA will tell you, "clearance is never a problem."
Dear reader, the DDCA might, but never say never. Not after the DDCA has successfully transformed our once unfriendly neighbourhood stadium into a highstreet playground.
Going back to where we started, readers (and, by extension, cricket fans), have the choice of dedicating those two minutes of silence to either shock (at the death of our beloved story) or awe (at the DDCA's efficiency) as they deem fit. If it is the latter option, please do pat the already self-patted backs of the DDCA's top functionaries who, on this rare occasion of achievement, are united in their well-deserved desire to receive credit.