Readymade grass for Ferozeshah Kotla

Delhi officials have opted for readymade grass for Ferozeshah Kotla ahead of ODI against Pakistan.

With a tough deadline staring at their faces, nervous Delhi cricket officials have opted for readymade grass rolls to get the FerozeshahKotla stadium ready for a One-Day International against Pakistan.

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Come Thursday and the readymade grass rolls would be spread in the outfield and on the pitch on a war footing as the stadium battles a March 10 deadline to get a final approval from Indian cricket board for the match, say Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) officials.

Recent rains have helped. But if it does not rain anymore, the 74 imported sprinklers would spring into action to offset the lack of water even as nervous DDCA officials are working overtime on the massive renovation, being done at a cost of about Rs.550 million.

"The rain has come as a boon for us as it would help settle the soil in the outfield and it will also help the grass take firm roots quickly," DDCA general-secretary Sneh Prakash Bansal told IANS.

"And once the grass, huge rolls of which are being brought from Timber Trail Resort at Parwanoo in HimachalPradesh, have been unrolled, the 74 made-in-Japan sprinklers would help it settle down," said Bansal, who along with senior vice-president ChetanChauhan is overseeing the ambitious project.