The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has invited several former Indian captains to mark the occasion of India's 500th Test. But, the fear of having "empty stands" is giving sleepless nights to the local organisers.
The dengue and chikungunya epidemic in the Kanpur city could well create a serious problem for host Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association during the course of the first Test between Indian and New Zealand starting at the Green Park here on Thursday.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has invited several former Indian captains to mark the occasion of India's 500th Test. But, the fear of having "empty stands" is giving sleepless nights to the local organisers.
If figures released here a couple of days ago are to be believed, then over 900 people in this industrial town have already been tested positive for dengue and chikungunya. This includes over 300 personnel from the police force, including some senior officers also.
The problem the local police now are facing is that some of the personnel who are down with this disease are the ones who have been given charge of taking care of security arrangements of the Green Park.
Amongst them is additional superintendent of police, Jitendra Srivastava, who has been hospitalised for about two weeks.
dna has learnt that the demand for tickets has not been picked up till Tuesday despite the fact that a Test match is played here after a gap of almost seven years.
There are just over 13,000 tickets made available for the fans this time. "If the tickets are not sold out, then there is plan to distribute free tickets to the students," said a UPCA official on Tuesday.
Spidercam for first time
The BCCI has, meanwhile, for the first time installed a spidercam to give better viewing experience to the television spectators. The spidercam has already been used successfully in the One-dayers and Twenty20 format around the word.
But it would be the first time that the cabled camera will be seen moving above players' head here at the Green Park stadium. The same has been used by other countries including the India-Australia Test series in 2015-16.
Dry wicket
The Kanpur track looks completely dry with just 36 hours to go for the first Test. But the chief curator Shiv Kumar is sure that the pitch will not create havoc like the way it happened in Nagpur and Mohali against South Africa last year.
As per the curator, the soil here has good binding qualities and the cracks at the centre should not be of any worry for the visitors.
He cited the first-class matches played here where the ball started turning only after two days. However, he hinted that the dry track could well encourage reverse swing.
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