After the first Test of India vs Bangladesh in Chennai, the action now shifts to Kanpur. India is reportedly aiming for a clean sweep in the two-match series at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. The venue will host its first international cricket match after 2021. However, according to a report in The Indian Express, the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) has declared one of the stands at the stadium as dangerous. According to the report, the government officials have expressed the opinion that the structure may collapse if the stand is used at full capacity.
“The PWD has raised some issues and we have agreed that we will not sell all the tickets for Balcony C,” UPCA CEO Ankit Chatterjee told the newspaper.
“We have been told that we can only sell 1,700 tickets for the grandstand, which has a capacity of 4,800. The repair work will continue in the coming days.”
The situation is so serious that a team of engineers spent a lot of time at the Balcony C stand and warned the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) to close it during the match.
“This stand cannot support the weight of even 50 fans, if they jump after Rishabh Pant hits a six. This part of the stadium is in dire need of repair,” the report quoted a PWD engineer as saying.
Rishabh Pant returned to international Tests in the Bangladesh series after recovering from a serious car accident and immediately made his mark. His flurry of scores in India's first match of the series, including a century in the second innings, have propelled him back up the ICC Test rankings to sixth position.
The top 10 rankings published by the ICC in Tests and ODIs have seen peaks and troughs after intense international cricket action.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (751) has moved to fifth place, also helped by a half-century in the first innings of the match against Bangladesh. Pant is behind him with 731 rating points.
Rohit Sharma has retained his place in the top 10 batsmen but has dropped five places after scoring less than 10% in the first Test of the two-match Bangladesh series.
In the Test bowling rankings, Sri Lanka's Prabath Jayasuriya cemented his reputation as one of the game's best spinners, rising five places to eighth after beating New Zealand in the Galle Test by nine wickets.
With ANI inputs
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