Kolkata: Iconic Eden Gardens is all set to face the challenges of hosting the World T20 matches smoothly. Much water has flowed under the Howrah Bridge ever since Sourav Ganguly took over the role of Cricket Association of Bengal president .Regarded as one of the best cricket stadiums , Eden Gardens had its share of harsh criticism in recent times. Let’s take a look at the most important changes being made at the venue under Sourav Ganguly.
Pitch Cover: A brand new pitch cover which is also called hover cover was ordered from England under Ganguly’s reign. The entire ground can be under the covers in 15-20 minutes. A five member team from England came down to Kolkata to give a demonstration to the ground staff at Eden Gardens. Earlier it took a lot of time to get the ground covered.
Coring of the outfield: Eden Gardens outfield and drainage system came under a lot of criticism. Even a spell of half an hour shower was enough to spoil an international match earlier. Last year, India-South Africa T20I match was called off due to a spell of heavy rain in the morning as the outfield was muddy.
A whole new coring process was done in the outfield so that the outfield does not remain water logged for long. Drainage system was also upgraded.
Change of curator: Veteran Prabir Mukherjee made way for Sujan Mukherjee as chief curator of the ground. Sujan Mukherjee a former jt. secretary of the association had the experience of looking after the ground and has worked as a curator for the academy ground in Kalyani.
New Super Sopper: Previously the association had only 3 super soppers in place. Keeping in mind Kolkata’s unpredictable weather conditions during this time of the season, Sourav did not wanted to take any chances as he ordered 2 more super soppers from Australia. Even if it rained the ground can be ready for the match to resume quickly.
Electronic Scoreboard: Eden Gardens had a new electronic scoreboard in place like Melbourne Cricket Ground. The previous one installed during the 1996 World Cup was outdated. The new scoreboard will show all the details, highlights and graphics of a match.
Sourav also have plans to get naming rights in place for the iconic venue. With a view to get in more revenues so as to maintain the stadium the association is all set to get a partner in future. Talks are in final stages to have Reliance as partner for Eden Gardens. With the new changes one would expect the iconic venue to stage the WorldT20 matches with flying colors.