After receiving the nod to hold a Test at the ACA-VDCA stadium here one year ago, locals in particular and people of Andhra Pradesh in general are happy that a Test match is happening at last. It is going to be a historic event, people from all walls of life said.
It is an icing on the cake as the Test is with England, one of the top Test teams of the world and the dashing Virat Kohli is leading the Indian team. From November 17 to 21 when the second Test of the five-match is played and some days before and after that the city and AP will be on a high and every moment of the Test, to be played for the first time in the State will be savoured. Many say the Indian team is starting on a positive note as far as the match is concerned as they recall how M.S. Dhoni slammed the Pakistani bowlers in the first One-day International was played at the venue on April 5, 2005, paving way for India’s win.
Inspections have been done and the requirements suggested by the ICC team have been complied with and the modern and beautiful stadium is at last hosting the Test.
Who have all said that Andhra’s dream come true and a matter of pride that the match is allotted to the city are thankful to ACA general secretary G. Gangaraju for securing a Test for the city and are confident that the match would be a success given the track record of conducting 10 ODI, five of them at the old venue GVMC stadium, and one T20, very recently in February. One ODI and a T20 were cancelled, due to Hudhud cyclone and rains respectively.
One-Day match
The local officials also feel that it is a great responsibility to make the first Test match on the soil of AP a success. Of course their focus will be on this match while they have also to organise the fifth ODI between India and New Zealand on October 29 but it is going to be an easy task since they are well-versed with the conduct of ODIs.
President of ACA D.V.S.S. Somayajulu said it has been a hectic year and Vizag is hosting a Test and ODI after conducting six IPL matches. “Visakhapatnam got the Test because there has been no complaint about the city, the venue and arrangements from any quarter”, he said.
President of VDCA P. Vishnu Kumar Raju said Mr. Gangaraju’s efforts are behind the city getting the Test. He wanted children from poor families be allowed free to watch the Test which is being played for the first time in AP.
Veteran sports writer and commentator A. Prasanna Kumar too felt the same since they can learn a lot. “It will be red-letter day in the history of ACA and VDCA, a great honour to Visakhapatnam and the city would sure rise to the occasion. A perfect coordination between VDCA and ACA is needed to make this match a great success”, Prof. Prasanna Kumar said, and also felt that a day-night Test would have been better.
He was happy to see that the late D.V. Subba Rao’s wish to have a Test in the city has been realised. Though the former ACA president was not among our midst, his son was head of ACA and organising the great event, Prof. Prasanna Kumar added.
Vice-president of ACA G.J.J. Raju is elated and at the same time it an important duty to ensure that the Test is conducted well since only ODIs were held so far and the long-duration Test is a different experience. “We have provided a perfect wicket for the ODIs and I am sure the wicket for the Test would also be the best”, he said.
Former Ranji captain M.N. Ravikumar felt that the Test should enthuse the youngsters and children who are more used to the shorter version of the game and help them learn how to play a longer version of the game by watching some of the top players in action. Mr. Ravikumar recalled an observation made by some senior players that a Test player can be a good ODI or Twenty20 player but the shorter version player cannot be a good Test player.
