The epochal stadium of Kolkata (a State in India) – Eden Gardens – has been to a huge extent “spared” the wrath of super Cyclone Amphan which devastated the eastern Indian States of West Bengal and Odisha on Wednesday night and left behind a trail of destruction and also claimed lives. The pitch and the outfield area of the facility remained totally unaffected.
The legendary Eden Gardens is a cricket and football multipurpose ground in Kolkata, India. It was established in 1864 and is the oldest cricket stadium in India.
Speaking to mediapersons, Avishek Dalmiya, President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), heaved a sigh of relief, “Looking at the scale of disaster which has taken place across the State, it’s natural for some damages to have occurred. But prima facie, we don’t think there’s any major damage to the Eden. However, we cannot take any chances and will consult our structural engineer to look into the issues. If needed, we will implement whatever suggestion we get from the technical persons.”
Elaborating on the areas that needed attention, Dalmiya added, “The manual scoreboard at D block has to be looked into. Besides, few fiber sheets above a couple of blocks also need minor repairs, while glass panes of two corporate boxes need to be replaced.”
“The Structural Engineer will inspect the venue and submit a detailed report. Majority of the issues should be sorted very shortly,” the CAB President informed.
The pitch and the outfield areas of the Eden, which sits next to the Ganges River on the fringes of the city, were not affected due to the cyclone. The CAB administration wants to take up the restoration work and finish the repairs at the earliest.
Fortunately, there are no fixtures lined up at Eden Gardens with the Indian Premier League (IPL) being postponed indefinitely due to Lockdown 4.0 in place in India due to the coronavirus menace. The Eden, around this time of the year, serves as the home ground for Kolkata Knight Riders.
The Kolkata Knight Riders are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in IPL. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and her spouse industrialist Jay Mehta.
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