India v/s England: Chennai limping back to normalcy

Following the bad taste left by some of the fan messages on the giant screens during the Wankhede Test last weekend, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) have decided not to entertain any such thoughts during the fifth and final Test starting here on Friday.

TNCA secretary Kasi Viswanathan told DNA here on Wednesday that “the fan messages will not be displayed on the ‘replay screen’.  

Meanwhile, TNCA is working round the clock to get everything in place for a prompt start to the inconsequential match.

Though the city of Chennai was slowly limping back to normal, the devastation left by Cyclone Vardah on Monday on the MA Chidambaram Stadium was not much. For starters, the mobile services were still to be restored completely. The roads all over the city were full of uprooted trees and fallen branches, with the authorities doing their best to clean up the mess.

Even the partial damage done to the stadium’s sightscreens, air-conditioners, glass panes of certain hospitality boxes and some of the bulbs blown away from the floodlights were being restored, Viswanathan said that all the communication lines will be restored by Thursday evening, a day before the Test begins.

The TNCA secretary was pleased with the way things are coming back to normal. “The ticket sales are encouraging. We started selling tickets from November 29,” he said.