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ECB officials visit D.Y. Stadium

Special Correspondent

Jaipur: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) officials visited the D.Y. International Stadium, Nerul, Navi Mumbai, on Sunday to get a first-hand account of the facilities there for a Test match.

Five home matches of the Mumbai Indians in the DLF-IPL Twenty20 will be held at the brand new facility that has been built at an estimated cost of Rs. 150 crore.

Vijay Patil, President, D.Y. Patil University and Sports Academy, has created facilities there for cricket, badminton and aquatics.

John Carr, Director, ECB and Reg Dickson, Security Consultant, ECB, visited the venue at Nerul, the only five-star hotel in Nerul some 40km from the city, and went around malls surrounding the stadium.

Prof. Ratnakar Shetty, Treasurer, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) said since the ECB officials including Chairman Giles Clarke were here for the match, we suggested they have a look at the new venue.

“John Carr said it’s a fabulous venue,” said Shetty.

The MCA is exploring the possibility of staging the Platinum Jubilee Test (second Test) between India and England this winter at the D.Y. Patil venue because the Wankhede Stadium would be under repairs after the IPL final.

Moreover, the MCA is not certain whether the Cricket Club of India (CCI), which has a constitutional provision to provide free access to its members, to the Club House in particular at all times, would agree to bend its rules.

It is because of this bylaw of the CCI that the Mumbai Indians (which is entitled to 100 per cent rights on tickets for the IPL competition) chose to play five matches at the D.Y. Stadium.

“Nothing has been decided, but we advised the ECB officials to visit the stadium at Nerul,” Shetty added.

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