Shukla defends Kanpur as Test venue: 'Everything is being criticised'

BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla on Monday put up a stout defence of Kanpur as a Test centre saying the venue cant be denied the chance to host long format matches as it is set to undergo an upgrade to improve its infrastructurePersistent rain has played havoc with the second Test between India and Bangladesh at the Green Park as two full days of play were washed out without a ball being bowledThe stadium has an outdated drainage system and three super soppers were used to dry the ground after rainOn Sunday it did not rain much and the sun also came out for a brief period but the wet outfield did not allow play to begin Only 35 overs could be bowled across the first three days of the TestWell criticism is one thing which we are used to being in administration of BCCI in cricket But everything is being criticized When we were not giving matches to Kanpur then also I was being criticised Now we are giving the match and I am being criticized why it has been given to Kanpur Shukla saidHe said they cant control weather and never before a match has been abandoned at this centreThis ground is around 80 years old It is our heritage ground If you remember it used to be a permanent Test centre So the whole idea was to have Test matches hereThis is for the first time in 80 years that it has rained so much that we were not able to host the match for two days But the history suggests that no match has been abandoned here There are many venues in the world where because of rain matches were abandonedAlso ReadCricket needs an indoor revolution to combat weather woesI dont think there should be a hue and cry because when this ground was being built stadium was being built then those technologies were not available Now technologies are availableLike in our Lucknow stadium we have got that technology And in Varanasi we are building another stadium There we have got hightech modern technology to take away the water Here also we are planningBack in 2019 star batter Virat Kohli had proposed that Test cricket should be played only at five major centres Top cricketing nations like Australia and England also have permanent centresAsked if he supports the idea Shukla said India have five major centres in Delhi Mumbai Beglauru Chennai and KanpurKanpur was also one of them So its a permanent Test centre Then we have to keep other aspects also in mind Second is our rotation policy So we have to go by the rotation policyAnd three India has now got a lot many venues We have got maximum number of venues which Australia and other countries dont have And we have to provide opportunity to all of themShukla said smaller centres with infrastructure should host Tests to keep the fans interested in the game in these citiesThe number of spectators that goes down in those cities because people are used to watching you know these T20 and oneday cricket all that So thats why we had you know this idea was floated that in Bgrade cities where we have got infrastructure we should organise Test matchesLook at here its almost packed And during the rains also last two days lot many people turned up to watch the match That means there is appetite People are eager to watch cricket So thats why we are keeping all those things in mindShukla hinted that the BCCI may conduct the upcoming IPL auction abroad like the last timeWe are contemplating with both the options It may be abroad also Last time we had in Dubai And it went very successfully The whole idea is to take some element of cricket overseas also So overseas cricket fans also get attractedAnd they associate themselves with the cricket So thats the basic idea If we cant have matches there at least we should organise such events there Keeping that in mind all the options are openThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever