HYDERABAD: The ambitious plans of the Hyderabad Cricket Association to have a club house at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium (Uppal) seem to have gone for a six. Officially, it is said that the focus now will be more on other key areas like providing better play facilities at the venue.

The HCA had collected close to Rs. 6.5 crores through membership drive for some 650 prospective candidates for the proposed club house. However, according to N. Shivlal Yadav, secretary of HCA, it has been decided to put on hold the club house plans at least till September. And as part of this, Rs. l lakh collected from each member besides Rs. 1,000 association fee will be refunded immediately.

Primary objective

"We felt there is a greater urgency to increase the seating capacity in the stands in view of the hectic domestic schedule featuring the Indian cricket team," he pointed out in a chat with The Hindu . "The need of the hour is to showcase the stadium in a much better manner to the Board of Control for Cricket in India with the primary objective of getting an international match allotted to the city."

But, Shivlal Yadav insists that there will not be any fresh screening to allot the club house membership once the issue comes back to the forefront. "We have decided to retain the application forms and definitely all those who were allotted the membership will be given top preference," he clarified. This is a decision which has clearly disappointed all those who were dreaming of unwinding themselves at the club house at the earliest. Shivlal takes pains to explain that since there will be enormous pressure from the members if they are not provided the club house facilities in the next three months (which he feels is now literally impossible), it is better to shelve the plans for the time being.

"We don't mind waiting for some more time but will be definitely disappointed if it doesn't come through at all," says P.Uday Chander, Director, HRD, Sierra Atlantic. The club house membership drive was dubbed one of the major fund-raising ventures to fill the coffers of HCA to complete the stadium in all aspects.

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