IPL 2020 | M.A. Chidambaram Stadium likely to open three stands for CSK home games

12/08/2019

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Chennai Super Kings' home venue Chepauk will likely be a full house from the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League as the stands I, J and K which have been closed since 2012 will be opened. Initially, the stands were supposed to be opened for India's first ODI versus West Indies on Dec 15.

M.A Chidambaram will now be ready after more than half a decade to become a full house again, as the stands I, J and K that were closed will be opened before the commencement of the next season of the Indian Premier League. The home team Chennai Super Kings will witness a full house after a gap of eight years as the three stands were closed due to some discrepancies that were formed when the stadium was reconstructed for hosting games in the 2011 World Cup.

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) was trying its best to re-open the stands before hosting India's first ODI against West Indies on December 15 and had paid all its dues like INR 19.16 crore for the association and INR 2.18 crore for the TNCA Club to acquire the Government Order (GO) to renew the venue's lease for the next 21 years. But TNCA is still waiting for the Madras Cricket Club (MCC) that is obligated to pay almost INR 11 crore to the State government.

"The lease arrears have been cleared. The documentation process should be completed by the next couple of days. After that, we wait for the MCC," TNCA secretary R.S. Ramaswamy told Sportstar.

The main issue with the MCC was its gymnasium and the Madras High Court had ordered that 12 metres of the gym needed to be demolished in order to have a gap of 8 metres between the MCC and the K stand. But the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) declared some parts of the club as heritage and it was not possible to demolish the gym.

"The ball is in the MCC's court. They have to conduct the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and then they have to decide to demolish the gym. So it will take time. We are not looking at any deadline or anything. We are expecting to hear good news from the MCC anytime now. As soon as they are ready to carry out the demolition, we are good to go," Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) media manager RN Baba stated.

Ramaswamy is hopeful that the stands will be opened before the upcoming season of the IPL.

"The target is the IPL (Indian Premier League). Should be done by January end or so. On our side, we are ready," he concluded.