The Railway Stadium in the city will host the Ranji Trophy at after a gap of more than 22 years. The last one was played here between the Andhra and Goa teams in 1997.
The Elite group (A) Ranji Trophy match between Indian Railways and Saurashtra will be played at the stadium, beginning Tuesday. During a conference here on Monday, Saurashtra team skipper Jaydev Unadkat, who has played one test match, seven ODIs, 10 T20s for the country and 73 IPL matches, said that the stadium and the ground looked good and one could expect a good contest here.
‘Pitch looks good’
Karn Sharma, skipper of Indian Railways, who has played one test match, two ODIs and one T20 for Team India and 63 IPL matches, said that the pitch was new, but wore a green top. “It might assist the fast bowlers in the beginning, but turn into a batting track later.”
Having played for the Indian Railways for the past several years, Karn said that the new-look Vizag Railway stadium was one among the best among the stadiums that Indian Railways had got all over the country.
Apart from Unadkat, the Saurashtra team, which was Ranji runners-up last year, also has test cricket star Cheteshwar Pujara. He was also appreciative of the stadium and said that people could expect a good cricket here.
Earlier, Waltair Divisional Railway Manager Chetan Kumar Shrivastava said that the stadium had been refurbished with an investment of ₹1 crore.
“We have not only laid a new pitch, but also have built dressing rooms and rooms for the officials and the press. Free wi-fi will be provided to the media people,” he said.
Rich legacy
The Railway Stadium, has a legacy for this was the first ground to host a Ranji Trophy match way back in 1964. Bringing back memories from that match, former Rector of Andhra University and cricket commentator A. Prasanna Kumar said the match was played between Andhra and Hyderabad teams.
The Hyderabad team had star players such as M.L. Jaisimha, Abbas Ali Baig and Abid Ali.
“Though the Hyderabad team won the match, K. Bavanna of Andhra had emerged as a star with his all-round performance. He scored a swashbuckling 61 in the second innings and took three wickets,” recalled Mr. Prasanna Kumar.
The stadium had hosted seven Ranji Trophy matches and six List A matches. “This stadium will now be a regular venue for cricket. In January, three matches of CK Nayudu Trophy will be played here. Teams from Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh will be participating in the matches,” said Mr. Shrivatava.
