With a second wave of Covid-19 affecting different parts of the country, the state governments have asked the citizens to follow all protocols in the fight against the pandemic. Ahead of the five-match T20I series against England, the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) has said that the only 50% of the spectators would be allowed inside the Narendra Modi Stadium.
“We are going to use only 50% seating capacity at the Narendra Modi Stadium for all the T20 International matches to be played here due to COVID-19 pandemic. Up to 50% tickets will be issued on the online and offline ticketing platforms for these matches,” said Shri Dhanraj Nathwani, Vice President, Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA).
Ahead of the 1st match scheduled to be played from March 12, the entire stadium has been sanitised keeping in mind the safety of the spectators. The officials are adhering to all the safety protocols and special task force committees have been set up to ensure that all required safety measures are implemented and followed.
Narendra Modi Stadium, which is now the world’s largest cricket stadium, has a seating capacity of 1, 10, 000 spectators. Even with 50% capacity, over 50, 000 cricket fans can watch the match live from the ground.
After clinching the four-match Test series 3-1, Virat Kohli-led India would be eyeing another series win against Eoin Morgan-led England.
Ahead of the 1st T20I, Kohli spoke about the new additions to the squad for the shortest format of the game.
“We have have played with a certain kind of pattern in the past. We did not have a big tournament to work towards in the past. If you look the squad, the additions we have made we have have tried to address a few things we needed in specific,” Kohli said on the eve of the game referring to the the addition of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan.
“Guys who can be ‘x factors’ with the bat and do things which are the need of the hour in T20 cricket. These guys have done so on a regular basis in the IPL so we have tried to cover all those basis. Now it will be interesting to see how they go about in these five games.”
When asked about whether R Ashwin could be included in the T20I squad at a later stage, Kohli said with Washington Sundar doing well with the team both with bat as well as ball, there wasn’t a possibility of two players with a similar skillset featuring in the same squad.
“Washington has been doing really well for us. You cannot have two players (Washington and Aswhin) of the same discipline playing in one spot so unless Washi has a drastically horrible season and things go south for him, I mean the question should be asked with some kind of logic as well. You suggest where you would add Ash when Washington does that job for the team,” Kohli said in a virtual press conference on Thursday.
