PCA Mullanpur stadium braces for upgrade ahead of IPL season
The Mullanpur stadium which hosted four IPL home matches of Punjab Kings (PBKS) last season and made its debut as a venue for BCCI’s domestic T20 league, will be hosting IPL matches this season as well
The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium in Mullanpur is all set for an upgrade with installation of canopies at the spectators’ stands which will be complete ahead of the upcoming Indian Premiere League (IPL) scheduled to take place at various venues across India from March 21 to May 25.
The Mullanpur stadium which hosted four IPL home matches of Punjab Kings (PBKS) last season and made its debut as a venue for BCCI’s domestic T20 league, will be hosting IPL matches this season as well. In a bid to upgrade the stadium facilities, PCA will be installing the canopies for convenience of spectators. From 2008 to 2023, IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali had been hosting IPL matches.
PCA stadium upcoming in Bathinda
“The tenders for installing the canopies was done a few months ago. The work in this direction is already in progress and we are hoping to add this soon,” said PCA secretary Dilsher Khanna, who was also excited to share that PCA is also going to build a stadium in Bathinda which will be used as a regional centre which will cater to state cricketers.
“PCA has bought 12.5 acres of land there and aims to build a facility modelled on the National Cricket Academy. There were not many well-equipped stadiums in south Punjab, so we chose Bathinda for this. Also, PCA wants to buy land in Amritsar soon to add more infrastructure and uplift cricket facilities in the region,” added Khanna, who also informed that the next PCA elections will be held during the annual general meeting to be organised anytime before September 2005.
In the 2024-2025 domestic season, PCA Mullanpur stadium witnessed a flip with an addition and completion of its B-ground in the stadium area and hosted multiple domestic matches.
“The B-ground which has top-notch match and practice facilities was a success. It not only hosted domestic matches but also state camps. PCA has definitely added a new dimension to its infrastructure with the inception of B-ground,” added Khanna.
Even though, the senior men’s and women’s PCA teams did not find much success this season, its U-23 men’s team lifted the one-day U-23 inter-state A-Trophy with former test cricketer VRV Singh as coach. The Punjab U-16 boys’ are in the final of the Vijay Merchant Trophy and will take on Uttar Pradesh in the final while the U-19 women’s team is in the semi-finals of the one-day inter-state tournament. Also, their U-15 girls team finished as runners-up in the one-day inter-state cricket tournament. “Punjab teams have tasted success this season and we are expecting more success in upcoming matches as well,” felt Khanna. Punjab senior men’s team will take on Karnataka in their next Ranji Trophy tie in Bengaluru on January 23 with India star Shubman Gill also playing for Punjab.
