Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati faces allegations of mismanagement

The Barsapara cricket stadium in Guwahati hosted its inaugural international match yesterday (10th October) between India and Australia. It has been tipped to be one of the best grounds for playing cricket. But there were more disappointments for the spectators and government agencies on a night that witnessed a 8-wicket loss for the home side against a spirited Australian line up.

Numerous complaints have surfaced of mismanagement by the Assam Cricket Association (ACA). Certain government bodies alleged that proper communication was lacking from the ACA officials, who were in-charge of the event. According to Times of India, there were no lights in some of the toilets, there were hardly any sign boards to guide the spectators to the stands.

“This is not at all international standards. At least the basics, like having lights in toilets, should have been worked out properly,” said a spectator to TOI.  Vehicles of Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) were not been allowed to go inside the gates of the stadium. “This is highly irresponsible attitude from the ACA. We were not allowed to enter the stadium. If they don’t let us in, how do we work? They must cooperate with us to get things running smoothly,” said an official of the civic body.

Apart from all these mismanagement, the stone-pelting incident involving the Australian cricket team only added to the misfortunes. Yesterday, Australian cricketer Aaron Finch suggested that a rock was thrown at the Australian team bus, which resulted in a broken window pane. He later tweeted with a picture which read “Pretty scary having a rock thrown through the team bus window on the way back to the hotel!!,”

Guwahati hosted an international match after a gap of seven years and this particular incident has disappointed majority of the sports-loving people of the city.