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Chandigarh: Delayed Sector 16 cricket stadium revamp leaves players on sidelines
Unavailability of the stadium has also resulted in revenue loss for the Chandigarh administration, with no corporate or private matches being hosted for the past six months
The Sector 16 Cricket Stadium, an iconic stadium built in the heart of Chandigarh with a production assembly featuring stars like Kapil Dev, Yograj Singh, Ashok Malhotra, Chetan Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, along with hundreds of domestic cricketers, bears a deserted look these days.
Other than the groundsmen, technicians and engineers, no cricketer has been seen at the stadium’s ground since March 2024, when it was placed under renovation for relaying of pitches.
The UT administration had set an early deadline to relay and complete the 10 pitches at the stadium well ahead of the cricket season. But due to ill-planning and rains, the project has missed multiple deadlines and it will be another two to three months before the stadium is ready for cricket action, as per people familiar with the project’s progress.
Meanwhile, for months, 100-odd trainees have been deprived of daily match practice and training facilities. A large number of the trainees have even withdrawn their membership while many have been forced to look elsewhere for practice.
Unavailability of the stadium has also resulted in revenue loss for the UT administration, with no corporate or private matches being hosted for the past six months. Even the camps, trials and domestic matches by the BCCI-backed UT Cricket Association (UTCA) have been hit, forcing the body to move to Panchkula to host their T20 league and domestic matches. Ever since UTCA got affiliation from the BCCI in August 2019, the Sector-16 Stadium has been its main centre.
“I did not enrol myself at the stadium this season as I knew the ground is not going to be ready anytime soon. First the pitches and then the ground was dug up. But I cannot train at a private academy due to high fees,” said a 14-year-old trainee who played at the stadium under UT sports department coaches till March this year.
Explaining the reasons for delay, UTCA president Sanjay Tandon shared that while trying to relay the 10 centre pitches at the stadium, the administration’s engineers and technicians miscalculated and raised the level of the turf wickets a bit above the ground.
“To rectify this, the ground was dug up in June to make the ground level with the pitches. While this work was underway, monsoon arrived, delaying the project further,” he added.
Due to this, UTCA had to rejig its plans for the 2024-2025 season. Its T20 league has also been delayed due to unavailability of a well-equipped ground in Chandigarh. “The off-season cricket matches and camps usually begin by May-June. The stadium has been the focal point for UTCA since 2019. So, we were banking on the stadium to host camps and domestic matches, starting October, along with other grounds,” he said.
“Now, GMSSS-26, Mahajan Cricket Ground and Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula will be hosting the BCCI domestic matches this season. Also, UTCA’s T20 league for men will be organised in coming days at the Panchkula ground. We are still working out the schedule with the authorities,” said Tandon, adding that they had tied up with the Haryana Shehari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) for the Panchkula stadium.
It may be recalled that the UTCA had requested the UT administration to give the cricket state unit five local grounds last season for organising cricket activities. But the administration was not convinced and did not approve the idea.
Sharing an update on the project progress, UT sports director Saurabh Arora said, “In the last two months, I have been personally visiting the stadium and supervising the progress. There has been a delay, but we are aiming to complete and ready the ground in a month. There were some issues, but everything has been taken care of and the authorities are on the job to bring the stadium and the ground in shape.”
