Ahmedabad will host first Kiwi Test

The cat is out of the bag: Kanpur will not host the first Test of the forthcoming series against New Zealand, between October 8 and 12 this year. Instead, Ahmedabad will fill the breach.

Though the Board of Control for Cricket in India is still dragging its feet, the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association has made up its mind to forego its claim on the opening Test.

The second Test is scheduled to be held in Mohali, Chandigarh, from October 16 to 20.

Gujarat Cricket Association supremo Narhari Amin confirmed that Kanpur has given up its claim to host the first Test, and his body will be ready to host the game, come October.

"We are ready for it; the ground, the outfield and pavilion is in superb condition. We are currently constructing a new structure on the west-end part of the stadium," informed Amin.

"The renovation work on the GMDC pavilion is also on. As for the pitch, quite a few first class ties have already been held and it has behaved perfectly."

The Board's insistence on the UPCA staging the match is praiseworthy. It is keen the state body is able to use the bogey of the Test in such a manner that UP government is forced to grant lease of the Green Park stadium to the UPCA.

The UP Cricket Association, in its existence of over six decades, has hosted no less than 18 Tests and nine one-dayers but still depends on the government's mercy when it comes to cricket.

However, the UPCA is not the only Board unit dependent on outside forces for their cricket activities; no less than 16 of 27 BCCI units do not have lease granted for cricket grounds.

The units which still don't own a ground are Andhra and Kerala (South Zone); Jaipur, Kanpur, Gwalior and Indore (Central Zone); Maharashtra, Saurashtra and Baroda (West Zone); Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir (North Zone); Bihar, Orissa, Assam and Tripura (East Zone).

The Test against New Zealand in October will be Ahmedabad's seventh since the game against Clive Lloyd's West Indians, in 1983. They have also organized nine one-dayers at the Sardar Patel stadium, in Motera. The ground now has floodlighting facilities and had hosted an ODI against England in 2002. Unlike many other state units, this is Gujarat Cricket Association's own ground, built over a piece of land of around 50 acres, allotted by Gujarat government, on the bank of the Sabarmati river.

It had earlier hosted two one-day internationals at a different venue -- against England and Australia at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel stadium in 1981 and 1984.

It is now well-known why the UPCA doesn't want to host the first Test: the ground is in poor shape, the newly-laid turf hasn't yet been tested and a huge section of a wall has disappeared because of heavy rains. The conditions of public conveniences and stands, with gathering moss, isn't pleasant either.

The UPCA doesn't want a situation where the International Cricket Council blacklists it, like it did to Indore and Nagpur a few years ago before improved conditions led to their re-instatement in the fold.

Quite interestingly, this makes a repeat of two of the three Tests New Zealand played during their previous visit to India, in 1999, when they drew the Tests at Mohali and Ahmedabad. It lost just one Test -- and you've guessed it right, it was played at Green Park, Kanpur!

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