Very happy that BCCI has decided to give India-Bangladesh T20I to Gwalior, says MPCA head

New Delhi, Aug 14 (IANS) The BCCI’s decision to shift India’s first T20I against Bangladesh from Dharamshala to Gwalior on Tuesday evening marked the return of the city as an international cricket hosting venue. India’s T20I against Bangladesh on October 6 will be the first time Gwalior’s Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium hosts an international game. It will also mark the return of international cricket to Gwalior since the India-South Africa game in 2010, where the legendary Sachin Tendulkar became the first male cricketer to hit a double century in ODIs. 

Abhilash Khandekar, the President of Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, is thrilled about Gwalior’s return to hosting international matches. “I am feeling absolutely great as only on June 15, we had inaugurated the new stadium, which is the second international facility within Madhya Pradesh.”

“We also hosted the first local league by the name of MP Premier League in the same stadium with franchises and top players from Madhya Pradesh playing there. So, I am definitely very happy that the BCCI has taken a decision to shift the match and allot it to Gwalior’s new stadium which is having capacity of about 25,000 people,” he said in an exclusive conversation with IANS.

Since 1988, the Captain Roop Singh Stadium hosted international cricket matches in Gwalior. The venue, named after the two-time Olympic gold medallist in hockey, initially served as a hockey stadium before being repurposed to host cricket matches.

Since the venue fell under the jurisdiction of the Gwalior Municipal Corporation and, with the requirement of a stadium that met international standards, the MPCA began construction of the new stadium in 2011.

“With the specialised cricket pitches and stadiums requirement by the international standards, we had bought this land (for the new stadium) about 10-12 years ago with the help of BCCI’s funding. They give some grants to us for infrastructure development or for the development of cricket, which we have done,” added Khandekar.

Situated on the Mumbai-Agra highway, the new stadium spans 30 acres of land and is about eight kilometres away from Gwalior city. Among the attendees at its inauguration on June 15 were BCCI Secretary Jay Shah, 1983 ODI World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

“It took more than 4-5 years to build the stadium, though it took more than that time. But in the last three years, we did focused work and completed the stadium almost in December 2023, though some works were left out. The local people of Gwalior were bereft of cricket activities for a long time. So, they also enjoyed the MP League, where lots of good cricket was witnessed there in 10 days,” stated Khandekar.

With less than two months remaining for Gwalior to host the India-Bangladesh T20I, Khandekar says the MPCA has swiftly taken action to prepare the venue for the game. “We had consulted the BCCI for the dressing room and television crew requirements while constructing the stadium. Everything was made as per the new norms of the BCCI and other stakeholders.”

“Now we are immediately starting to work on whatever loose ends that are left behind for an international game because when we did the MP League, we did not have any tickets for the people. We did issue passes but that was because of the local nature of the tournament.”

“But now this being an international fixture, we definitely need to look into various issues so that the system is perfectly alright there. Because we have been holding games in Indore for years, and this being the first international match in Gwalior after a long time, we are cautiously planning everything. Our team has already started working in Indore about the details and very soon things will be in place in Gwalior,” he concluded.