India may obtain yet another International venue in Lucknow's Ekana Stadium
ICC to accredit Lucknow's stadium as an international venue
India already tops the list of the cricketing nation with the most number of International venues. It was recently announced that Guwahati’s Dr Bhupen Hazarika Stadium and Thiruvananthapuram’s Greenfield stadium are the two new International venues which would host two matches in the upcoming series against Australia and Sri Lanka.
International Cricket Council (ICC) is now looking to accredit yet another international stadium by the name of Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The most prominent stadium internationally in the state is the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur which is sparred with controversies regarding its ownership. India’s ICC elite panel match referee Javagal Srinath and BCCI general manager (cricket operations) MV Sridhar are scheduled to inspect the stadium on Wednesday.
“The two-member team will submit its report to the ICC. After getting the go ahead, the venue will be enlisted among the accredited venues of the world’s cricket body. Only then will the venue host international matches,” commented an official of the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association according to Hindustan Times.
Two new stadiums in Assam and Kerala scheduled to host International matches
The other venues former Indian fast bowler, Javagal Srinath, is supposed to inspect are the new stadiums in Assam and Kerela (Guwahati and Trivandrum) along with the one in Chattisgarh (Raipur). Without the approval from ICC, BCCI already decided to allocate T20 Internationals against Australia and Sri Lanka.
That said, sources also affirmed that Sarandeep Singh, the national selector, will be present in the newly built stadium to observe the performance of players during the Pink Ball Day-Night 4-day Duleep Trophy match between India Blue vs India Green match scheduled to start tomorrow (September 7 to 10). The other prominent names to be present in Lucknow along with Sarandeep Singh is WV Raman, the chief batting coach at the National Cricket Academy, with spin bowling coach Narendra Hirwani.
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