Dharamsala: The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) said on Wednesday that it’s ready to host five ICC ODI World Cup matches involving eight cricket playing nations on a newly-laid outfield in its showpiece stadium, one of the most picturesque grounds in the world located at an altitude of 4,000 feet above sea level.
“This is a historic moment in HPCA’s incredible journey of over 20 years and this has been made possible by the hard work of our former presidents, Anurag Singh Thakur and Arun Dhumal, who have in the past 20 years worked relentlessly for the upliftment of the g
“We are very thankful to BCCI and ICC for giving us this opportunity to host World Cup matches. Our sincere gratitude and thanks to BCCI President Roger Binny and Secretary Jay Shah for choosing this venue for the World Cup,” Sood said.
The authorities had improved the ground conditions and the settings last year to make it one of the best outfields in the world, which was witnessed during the IPL games held here month.
“We have laid out the SIS Air, a state-of-the-art air evacuation system, at our venue with a combination of cold season Ryegrass and shade tolerant fine leaf Paspalam grass,” he said.
The HPCA identified the need of a good drainage system and a grass variety suitable to the weather conditions in Dharamsala, thus creating one of the most advanced cricket grounds that added to the stunning beauty of the Dhauladhar mountains in the backdrop.
The air evacuation system can not only evacuate excess rainwater within no time, but it also helps aerate the root zone which keeps the plant healthy all throughout, Sood explained.
The SIS Air is a technology developed by SIS Pitches Holland, a UK-based company, while GreaterTEN, Mumbai, is the agency that installed this system here.
Ryegrass was first seeded with temperatures between 3 and 15-degree Celsius in winters and later on to cope up high temperatures in summer, Paspalum was introduced considering its shade tolerance too.
Work began in late September last year. However, unpredictable and extended Himachal rains halted the work a few times till late October.
As many as 11,000 tonnes of material was excavated and replaced with a specifically selected river sand and gravel tested in Scotland. A total of 6,000 metres of specialty pipes were installed with a laser-based system.
An underground reservoir and a plant room are part of this whole system.
The work was accomplished in 75 days and the grass bed was ready for seeding. Ryegrass seeds imported from the US were seeded in the last week of December to get it ready by early March, said the HPCA official.
The ground has nine pitches made under experienced hands of the chief curator.
“We are very appreciative of the team at HPCA for identifying the need for this system and getting it executed well in the background of the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup,” HPCA said in a statement.
(IANS)
