A new cricket stadium is to come up in the same location at Chepauk where the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium is. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association President, N. Srinivasan, announcing this recently, stated that the new stadium would meet the needs of modern day cricket. “We can’t live on old and past glories. The new stadium would have the most modern facilities.” Srinivasan referred to the upcoming new stadia at Mumbai (the Wankhede Stadium), Nagpur, Rajkot, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. He added that Chennai needed a new stadium in view of the 2011 World Cup, when more matches will be played in India than in the neighbouring countries. The TNCA President, who is also the Secretary of the Board of Cricket Control in India, noted that the national cricketing body was keen on improving the standards of playing venues in the country. Sources close to TNCA said that the new stadium would cost Rs. 175 crore and be completed in 277 days. No seating capacity was announced. The present stadium was inaugurated in 1974 and was one of the earliest to have covered concrete stands. The domestic cricket schedules published in the media a week after this showed that not a single Ranji or Duleep game will be staged in Chennai. Neither does the city figure in the itinerary of the visiting Australian team in October-November when seven one-day internationals will be played against India.

(Courtesy: Straight Bat)