Sightscreen troubles for HCA

The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) is proud to bring back Test cricket to the city after 22 years, but it needs to get a few basics right before trumpeting this as a success.

The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) is proud to bring back Test cricket to the city after 22 years, but it needs to get a few basics right before trumpeting this as a success.

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It's not just the absence of shades in the stands to protect the spectators from the sun or rain, which the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials referred to during their visit to the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Saturday. A disturbing feature of the second Test has been the repeated sight of batsmen moving away with the bowler running in because of movement behind the sightscreens. This has been happening from both ends, prompting the HCA to vacate a few seats behind the screens.

The problem has not been arrested and it kept happening through Sunday with even the security persons caught in the act a few times. HCA vice-president Shivlal Yadav promised a remedy before the association hosts its next international match.

"We will remove a few seats just above the sight screens at both ends. This will reduce the capacity of the stadium, but that is okay as long as this problem is solved. We will make sure that this happens before we host the next match," said the former India spinner, who is also a vice-president of the BCCI.