BCCI give green signal to Karnail Singh Stadium to host Ranji Trophy matches
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have given the go-ahead for the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi, the home ground of the Railways team, to host Ranji Trophy matches this season. The Railways team had to shift base last season after the pitch was deemed unfit to host Ranji matches.
In what comes as positive news for the Railways cricket team, the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi has been given the green signal by the BCCI to host Ranji Trophy matches this season after a one-year hiatus of not hosting games owing to the pitch being deemed unfit. The stadium is all set to host the next two home games of the Railways team, against Madhya Pradesh on January 11 and Karnataka on January 27.
The practice wickets and the main wicket at the center of the field were relaid with the help of Ashish Bhowmick, the East Zone curator from Assam. Bhowmick subsequently worked together with Rakesh Mehrotra, Railways' curator since 2003, to bring the pitch back up to Ranji Trophy standards. The BCCI did, however, provide sufficient funds to ensure that the project was completed successfully.
The Karnail Singh Stadium recently hosted a U-23 match and after inspection from Saba Karim, GM (Cricket Operations) of the BCCI, the ground was deemed fit to once again start hosting Ranji Trophy games.