Rain all over but lack of proper planning at St. Xavier’s College ground at Thumba in Thiruvananthapuram, which is hosting the Ranji Trophy game between Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, are now under scrutiny due to severe water leakage in the dressing room. In a video shared by The Indian Express, rainwater can be seen leaking from the roof of the dressing room and from various holes, damaging many players’ kit bags. Currently, the situation has led to stumps being called early on Day 3.
Not the first time KCA facilities come under scrutiny!
If we go into the past also, ground facilities have come under scrutiny. Bengal senior batter Manoj Tiwary had questioned the ground facilities during a Facebook live session. Tiwary said, “We are playing Kerala in a ground, not a stadium, despite there being one built years ago. We are being asked to play in a ground on the outskirts of the state. The dressing rooms are such that you cannot even strategise properly, since our dressing room and the opposite dressing room are so close to each other that you can hear what the others are saying. There is no privacy. I hope this is looked into in the future.”
In the last few seasons, many first-class venues have faced criticism from players and spectators due to a lack of planning for unforeseen events, such as heavy rain. It will be interesting to see how the Kerala Cricket Association deals with this.
Skipper Sachin Baby’s innings puts Kerala on top vs UP
Looking at the current match scenario, it is the hosts Kerala who are on top, thanks to skipper Sachin Baby and Salman Nazir’s batting masterclass, which helped the team put 395 runs on the board. Bowlers such as Jalaj Saxena also did their job well in the first innings. Uttar Pradesh is currently fighting, standing at 66 for two, but the rain has certainly become an issue, making things difficult for the remaining game.
