IND vs BAN 2024: UPCA hires langurs to tackle monkey menace at Green Park Stadium

Cricket fever is soaring high among the fans in the city which is widely regarded as the 'Manchester of the East.' Notably, Team India are squaring off against Bangladesh in the second and final Test of the series, at the renowned Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. The game began on Friday, September 27.

In a rather interesting move, the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) have come up with a creative idea for stopping monkeys from grabbing food at the venue. It was revealed that they are a common menace during international matches at the iconic cricket venue. Sometimes they even steal food from the television crew, who are stationed there to cover international games.

With the second Test being hosted by the UPCA, the state cricket association decided to hire baboons (commonly known as langurs) along with their handlers to control the situation. Besides, the Director of Green Park, Sanjay Kapoor, shed light on how the broadcast operators were at higher risk of becoming victims of food stealing, who work with camera equipment to cover and record the match just outside the boundary fence. He revealed that it has been ensured to cover the spot with black clothes both in the front and back side to restrict monkeys from accessing the snack items and drinks.

“To avoid the terror of monkeys, we have langurs (long-tailed leaf monkeys) to take care of them,” said Kapoor ahead of the second Test as per Indian Express.

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Notably, this was not the first time that langurs have served to keep monkeys at bay for an international cricket game. Green Park Stadium has been known for being one of the favourite spots for monkeys for a long time now.

Balcony C stand of Green Park remained partially closed for spectators

Meanwhile, speaking of the venue, it was earlier inspected by the Public Works Department (PWD) of the state and they found some parts of Balcony 'C' unfit for the spectators to stay in and enjoy the India versus Bangladesh match. Hence it was closed for repairs. Following that, some parts of the stand were made available for the crowd to witness the Indian cricket stars in action while some seats were declared unavailable for the spectators just a day before the match on Friday.

Also Read- IND vs BAN: Green Park stand ready for spectators following repairs ahead of second Test

“PWD and Harcourt Butler Technical University also conducted their inspection three days before the match and found that some seats in C block cannot be used for spectators as it is not safe. About 1750 seats of the upper block are still available for spectators,” Kapoor told media on the eve of the game.