School ground in Indore hosts Ranji Trophy game as MPCA Ground, Gwalior remains 'underprepared'

In an unusual turn of events, a high-school ground in Indore was allotted the game between Madhya Pradesh and Odisha over MPCA Ground, Gwalior in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024, where the game was originally slated to be held. The change of venues was affected by the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) as a last-minute change, as the original venue was not yet ready to host the scheduled contest.

It is understood that the change of venues was influenced due to the pending construction work in Gwalior. The under-construction cricketing facility in Shankarpura region of the City of Scindias will soon be used as the new international venue by the state association, and may get priority over Indore's Holkar Stadium going forward. However, as things stand, the ground is not match-fit yet, and missed hosting what was supposed to be its debut game in professional cricket.

Addressing the changed venue, the Emerald High School Ground in Indore has been allotted the game. It is, however, to be noted that it is not the first time that the venue is holding a fixture. In fact, it has been a regular host of many matches for BCCI's domestic fixtures previously. Apart from Ranji games, the venue has also hosted games from premier tournaments like Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy as well.

Speaking of the match, hosts MP won the toss on Day 1, and chose to field first. Much to their liking, their bowlers came out on top, while restricting Odisha to 184/5 at the end of the day. For the visitors, Subhransu Senapati remained unbeaten on 79(173) at Stumps. On the bowling front, star all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer took a couple of wickets, while Saransh Jain, Kulwant Khejroliya, and Aryan Pandey took a wicket each.

Gwalior misses out international debut to Indore

It is worth mentioning that India will be playing Afghanistan on January 14 at the Holkar Stadium, Indore for the 2nd T20I of the ongoing series. However, MPCA had sought of giving Gwalior its maiden international game with this 20-over game, which then had to be rescheduled in Indore with all the floodlights at the venue not being installed yet.