Confident HPCA ready and raring to go

Dharamsala: As the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium gears up to become the sixth new Test venue this season by hosting the fourth and final India versus Australia Test here, beginning today, the scene at the Stadium office is quiet, yet confident.

The current season has seen Indore host a Test against New Zealand, Rajkot and Visakhapatnam welcome England, and Pune, Ranchi and now Dharamsala play host to Australia in a Test for the first time.

However, given the fact that HPCA's head, Anurag Thakur had to vacate his position not very long ago, owing to the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Panel recommendations, one would have expected chaos in managing such a big event in this small, hilly town. But that's far from the truth, and credit to HPCA for the same.

"We are confident of pulling off a good game because most of us in the HPCA, comprising 50-60 officials, are experienced hands, having smoothly conducted ODIs, IPL matches and T20I games here in the past. In fact, conducting a Test match in comparison to limited over matches is rather easy in a way because the crowds are a lot less, so the chaos is less, and management becomes easier," Prem Thakur, former HPCA joint secretary and current member, told mid-day here yesterday.

"Factors like catering, ground work, tickets and invitations, etc are all common functions that we have carried out in the past though it will be a longer operational period as it's a Test but we are fully prepared for it," added Thakur, a former selector and cricketer himself.

The organised security forces here have always been a distinct feature and this time is no different. "We have 1500 security personnel deployed for this match -- 800 within the ground and 700 outside. They are our pride because we have never had a security incident in the past," said Thakur.