After nearly century-long wait, UPCA to get its own stadium
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for an international cricket stadium in Varanasi, ending the 95-year wait for Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association's own stadium. The stadium is expected to be completed in mid-2026 and will be leased to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the first 30 years. The BCCI/UPCA will pay ₹10 lakh annually to the state treasury and the District Sports Development Committee. Cricket legends and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will attend the stone-laying ceremony.
It will be the start of a new chapter in the history of Uttar Pradesh cricket when prime minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of an international cricket stadium in Varanasi on Saturday. This will also mark the end of Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association’s (UPCA’s) 95-year-long wait to have its own stadium.
Established in 1928, the UPCA never had its own stadium despite the state having two international cricket stadiums--the historical Green Park Stadium in Kanpur and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. While the stadium in Noida was built by the Noida Development Authority on behalf of the state government, the proposed stadium in Ghaziabad could never take off following an allegation of scam in its land purchase.
The Kanpur stadium, which hosted its first-ever Test match between India and England way back in 1952, is owned by the Uttar Pradesh government. The cricketing body is currently paying ₹1.25 crore per year to the government for the stadium as per the provisions of a memorandum of Understanding (MoU). In the case of the Lucknow stadium, the UPCA has a ‘profit sharing’ agreement with the Ekana Sportz City’s management, which owns the facility.
The Ekana Stadium, which was developed in 2016 in the public-private partnership (PPP) model, will be handed over to the state government after 35 years as per the provisions of the policy.
However, for the upcoming Varanasi stadium, the state government has bought the land for ₹121 crore and handed it over to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The UPCA is spending ₹330 crore on its construction, the period of which has been fixed at two-and-half years. If all goes as per the plan, the stadium will start functioning in mid 2026.
As per a tripartite agreement between the BCCI, UPCA and the Uttar Pradesh Sports Directorate, the Varanasi stadium has been leased out to the BCCI/UPCA for the first 30 years and the lease can be extended for two more terms of 30 years each.
“The BCCI/UPCA will have to pay ₹10 lakh to the state treasury every year, besides paying ₹10 lakh to the District Sports Development Committee annually,” Uttar Pradesh’s director of sports RP Singh said on Friday.
“The BCCI/UPCA will have to share two percent of tickets with the district administration whenever a match takes place here as per the provisions and the stadium will have to be made available for government-backed sporting activities for 50 days in a year at the least,” he added.
“It’s a big achievement for the Uttar Pradesh cricket as UPCA’s own international cricket stadium will surely help develop cricketing in the region,” former India cricketer and Uttar Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy captain Gyanendra Pandey said on Saturday.
“More and more facilities for sports across the state would support local cricketers... it will strengthen cricket in Uttar Pradesh,” he added.
Cricket legends, U.P. CM to attend stone laying ceremony
VARANASI: BCCI president Roger Binny and its office-bearers, including vice-president Rajeev Shukla and secretary Jay Shah, and a galaxy of cricket legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar, Madan Lal, Gundappa Viswanath, Gopal Sharma and Karsan Ghavri will remain present in the foundation laying of the international cricket stadium in Varanasi. From the Uttar Pradesh government, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, tourism minister Jaiveer Singh, minister of state for sports Girish Yadav and others will be present in the ceremony.
