BCCI’s vice president Rajiv Shukla speaks on controversy revolving around Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium

Rajiv Shukla reminded that Kanpur’s stadium had never witnessed an abandoned match and admitted that the drainage system needs improvement.

Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium, one of the oldest cricket venues in India, received severe backlash over the last weekend after two days of play in the second and final Test match between India and Bangladesh was abandoned despite no rain.

BCCI breaks silence on Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium fiasco.

Rajiv Shukla, BCCI’s vice president, spoke to the media on Monday on the sidelines of the action on Day 4 and defended the facilities at the Green Park Stadium. He said, “Well, criticism is one thing which we are used to in the administration of the BCCI in cricket. But everything is being criticized. When we are not giving matches to Kanpur because [of certain reasons], then also I was being criticized. Now we are giving the match and I am still being criticized why it has been given to Kanpur. So that goes on.” He added, “You know the problem is that this ground is around 80 years old. It is our heritage ground. If you remember, it used to be a permanent Test center. The original six permanent Test centers were Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kanpur. This is a permanent center. So, the whole idea was to have Test matches here. This is the first time in 80 years that it rained so much that we were not able to host the match for two days.”

“No match has been abandoned in Kanpur.”

After fans were concerned that Day 2 and 3 matches will be abandoned, sparking a large possibility of a drawn result in Kanpur, Shukla, who hails from Kanpur, reminded that Green Park Stadium had never witnessed an abandoned match, although he admitted that the drainage system does need an improvement. He said, “The history suggests that no match has been abandoned here in Kanpur. There are many venues in the world where because of the rains, matches have been abandoned. So here if for two days the match couldn’t take place, I don’t think there should be too much hue and cry. When this ground was being built, and the stadium was being built, then those technologies were not available. Now, technologies are available. Like in our Lucknow stadium, we have got that technology. And in Varanasi, we are building another stadium. There, we have got high-tech, modern technology to take away the rainwater.”

He added, “Here also we are planning. The moment I came here, I had a long discussion with government officials because this stadium belongs to the government. We are in agreement with them. So, now for that, the ground has to be dug, new technology has to be applied, and everything has to be done.”