RAPID PROGRESS: Shivlal Yadav, Secretary, HCA talking to engineers atop the unfinished Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium at Uppal in Hyderabad. PHOTO: P.V.Sivakumar

HYDERABAD: Floodlights at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium (Uppal)! Well, it might just turn out to be a reality within the next six months if everything goes according to plan. Even as Hyderabad was scripting a piece of history in domestic cricket, beating Mumbai for the first time in Ranji Trophy, the hectic pace of construction work on the second tier on the Western Stands stood as a reminder of the commitment to get the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium (Uppal) ready in all aspects by June next year.

Buoyed by the enthusiastic response from BCCI chief and Union Minister Sharad Pawar, who only recently released an infrastructure-cum-development grant of Rs.25 crores to the Hyderabad Cricket Association, the top brass is more than keen to host the day-and-night international match.

Floodlighting

Ostensibly, the grand structure at the pavilion end is nearing completion in all aspects. With two lifts already operational and all rooms fully furnished and ready for occupation, major works are being completed at the Grand Stand end of pavilion block, says D.S.Chalapathi, joint secretary of HCA.

"In the next four weeks, work on the second tier of the Eastern Stand will commence. Once it is through, then the focus shifts to floodlighting which will be similar to the GMC Balayogi Stadium (Gachibowli)," says Shivlal, HCA secretary, in a chat with The Hindu .

With the full-fledged, international standard gym and swimming pool already in place and a lush green stretch being readied for practice facilities, the stadium is getting a new look every fortnight now.

The HCA Secretary confesses that the quicker the works get completed the better it would be for him to focus on the indoor cricket facility on the premises to facilitate shifting of National Cricket Academy from Bangalore to the city.

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