The Hyderabad Cricket Association is all set to sign a ₹1.6 crore agreement with 21st Century for in-stadia rights for the India-Bangladesh Test at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here next month.
A confident HCA secretary K. John Manoj, who had detailed discussions with BCCI South Zone curator P.R. Viswanathan and HCA curator Y.L. Chandrasekhar on pitch preparation, again informed The Hindu on Monday that there was no question of backing out from hosting the Test.
“Let me reiterate that even if we don’t get the BCCI funds we are not going to back out. We deem it a prestigious event as it happens to be Bangladesh’s first-ever Test in India,” Manoj said.
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“As part of our efforts, we are going to sign this in-stadia advertisement rights agreement which also means we will get ₹80 lakh as advance payment.
“Just in case we don’t get the funds from the BCCI on time, this will be more than handy,” Manoj said.
The secretary wrote a letter on Monday to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri expressing disappointment at the “doubts created about HCA hosting the Test”.
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“It is unfortunate some sections of the media reported, quoting a BCCI official, about HCA expressing inability to host this Test match. I would like to reiterate that preparations are in full swing,” the secretary stated in the letter.
Manoj said what they had written was seeking about Rs. 65 lakh which had to be released for any association hosting a Test as per the Supreme Court order.
“We were only seeking a clarification as the deadline is fast approaching. Ironically, there was no reply to our communication in this regard till this morning,” the HCA official said.
The letter, dated January 5, had stated “In this connection, we shall be highly obliged, if you can kindly advise about the financials as non-receipt of funds would lead to a serious disruption in the conduct of the Test Match and also other ongoing domestic BCCI Matches. Further, to run the day-to-day affairs/activities, we require funds as we have not received funds from BCCI so far.”