IPL Trophy makes stopover in Lucknow, fans eagerly await 1st match in city | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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IPL Trophy makes stopover in Lucknow, fans eagerly await 1st match in city

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | By
Mar 23, 2017 08:42 PM IST

The Ekana International Cricket Stadium in Lucknow has been tipped to hosts a few matches of this season, if the stadium (under final stages of construction ) gets completed by the mid April.

Lucknow is set to host a few Indian Premier League (IPL) matches this season though the confirmation is yet to come (is expected in a week’s time, just before the start of the 10th season on April 5). But fans in the capital of Uttar Pradesh are already in IPL mode, looking forward to the exciting matches.

Fans thronged in huge numbers at a mall in Lucknow to have a close look of the IPL Trophy on Thursday. The glittering trophy reached the city after travelling to nine cities across the country.(HT Photo)
Fans thronged in huge numbers at a mall in Lucknow to have a close look of the IPL Trophy on Thursday. The glittering trophy reached the city after travelling to nine cities across the country.(HT Photo)

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The Ekana International Cricket Stadium in Lucknow has been tipped to hosts a few matches of this season, if the stadium (under final stages of construction ) gets completed by the mid April. IPL officials visited the stadium on Wednesday to take stock of the construction work, while the BCCI officials are due to visit the venue just before the start of season 10.

“Let’s see what happens in the days to come, but currently we are focusing on the completion of the work as soon as possible,” managing director of the Ekana Sports, Udai Sinha, told HT on Thursday. “All the teams are welcome to conduct matches here. We are busy in giving the finishing touches to the facilities.”

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Meanwhile, fans thronged in huge numbers at a mall in the city to have a close look of the IPL Trophy on Thursday. The glittering trophy reached Lucknow after travelling to nine cities across the country . From Lucknow, the trophy will travel to Jaipur.

“We are eagerly waiting for the IPL Season 10 to start,” young enthusiast Tulika Singh told HT soon after having a selfie with the trophy. “I had to push a few friends in the crowd to reach close to the trophy as it was overcrowded.”

Over two dozen youngsters, including women, took part in the various on-the-spot events during the trophy’s display at the mall.

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“It’s our dream to see at least one match live here in Lucknow this time as I haven’t seen a match live ever in my life,” said Vikas Tandon, who had failed to manage a ticket for Gujarat Lions’ first game at Kanpur last season as he got stuck in a traffic jam while travelling to the industrial town from Lucknow.

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“This time, I’m not going to miss an IPL match as I would be reaching Kanpur two days in advance for the May 10 match when Gujarat Lions play their match at the Green Park,” said Vikas, adding, “But, I would prefer to see a match live here in Lucknow.”

There was a Bollywood flavour to the trophy display as well with actor Karan Kundra making a stopover.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Sharad Deep is a versatile sports journalist, who loves writing on cricket and Olympic sport. He has played cricket at the university level and has been writing for Hindustan Times since 1997.

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