Andhra Pradesh - Anantapur   

Collector opens Ranji match

By Our Staff Reporter

ANANTAPUR, DEC. 22. The District Collector, Y.V. Anuradha, inaugurated the four-day Ranji Trophy Elite `A' Group match between Andhra and Railways teams at RDT Stadium on the outskirts of the town on Wednesday. She released pigeons to mark the occasion.

With the inauguration of the match the long wait of cricket lovers of Anantapur district to watch a first class cricket match was over, at last, after a gap of 18 years.

The last time when a first class match was held was way back in 1986, when Andhra and Hyderabad teams played a Ranji Trophy league match at Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy Stadium on the mat wicket.

The construction of RDT Stadium by the Rural Development Trust, an NGO, on the outskirts of the district headquarters town last year and preparation of a turf wicket there improved the chances of Anantapur to host first class cricket matches again.

BCCI approval

The stadium and the wicket were examined and approved by the BCCI officials during the Andhra Ranji team selection matches held earlier this year. Prior to 1986, Anantapur hosted an Irani Trophy match in 1965. The Joint Collector, Shashibhushan Kumar, the secretary of the Andhra Cricket Association, N. Venkat Rao, the president of the Anantapur District Cricket Association, Mancho Ferror, the organisaing president, P. Mallikarjuna, and others were present.

Though the attendance of spectators was thin on the first day the organisers are confident that cricket lovers will throng the stadium in the remaining three days.

Meanwhile, before commencement of the match players of both sides opined that the wicket was good and would help batsmen.

The Railways captain, Sanjay Bangar, and their opening bowler, Harvinder Singh, complimented the lush green outfield in the stadium and hoped that it could become one of the best cricket venues of the country in future.

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