As Pune gets its own franchisee in IPL 4, infrastructure in the city is set to get a major boost. After five years without any international cricket, the new MCA stadium offers cricket fans hope for world-class cricket in not too distant future, says Shreeram Gokhale

The multi-crore stadium project of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) near Gahunje village off the Mumbai-Express highway, once ready, would change the cricketing scenario of the city forever.

The first and basic reason behind the project is that the MCA didn’t have its own stadium, which is really a shame. Despite being one of the richest State cricket boards and a member association of the world’s richest cricket body (BCCI), the previous office bearers never found it necessary to have their own top class cricket stadium. All that changed after Ajay Shirke took over as the MCA president, about five years ago.

It was absolute chaos till now. The Nehru stadium was the only venue for all of MCA’s big matches. Even the common man knows how mismanaged everything was since the stadium is owned by the Pune Municipal Corporation. To make things worse, the stadium is also partly owned by a couple of other parties.

So, effectively, the MCA would first have to through the process of getting permission from the PMC, and then the two connected bodies, to host even a club level match at the Nehru Stadium. Nobody can forget the fact that the last time the Nehru Stadium hosted an ODI, there were less than 8,000 tickets available for the cricket-loving public of this city, while the politicians and bureaucrats grabbed thousands of free passes for themselves and their cronies.

All hell broke lose when the MCA took the huge decision - that of refusing to host an India-Sri Lanka ODI at the Nehru Stadium, citing the ownership issue.

A lot of time has gone by, and one can understand how big a decision that was, as one of the basic facilities to host an IPL match is to have a stadium that is owned by a State cricket association. The BCCI announced, as soon as it got the World Cup hosting rights, that only those associations which are recognized Test centres, will get the coveted World Cup 2011 matches. Pune might not have got the right to host a World Cup match, but what the new stadium will ensure is recognition as a Test centre.

With a floodlit stadium, with a sitting capacity of 55000, Puneites might get to see something that they have never witnessed before - a Test match.

The Nehru Stadium, with a sitting capacity of about 28000, and with no scope to increase it any further, was always out of question as far as Test cricket is concerned. 

Apart from a top-class international stadium, MCA is also building a superb training ground - another ‘first’ for cricketers from Pune. Practicing on the Nehru Stadium pitch, or the other grounds in Pune is markedly different from being able to practice on a ground that is professionally made just for practice. This alone can make a lot of difference for a cricketer, especially an upcoming one.

MCA has already made it clear that the stadium is designed in such a way, that when there is no cricket happening on this ground, it could be used for cultural programmes, without disturbing the pitch at all. So an international class rock concert has become a reality for the city, although it’s some time before the stadium gets ready.

Hospitality industry looks forward eagerly to IPL’s fourth season

IPL may be immersed in controversy, but that isn't stopping Pune from gearing up for the game. The city can hardly wait for the Sahara Pune Warriors to wield the bat on home turf. And while the Pune IPL will create an overall buzz, it will also put the hospitality industry into overdrive.

Sandip Mukherjee, GM, Taj Blue Diamond Hotel, says, “We are proud that Pune will have its own team. I sincerely hope that the hotels in the city will benefit from the Pune IPL. There will be viewers and others connected with IPL coming in from different parts of the country, and we're all geared up to host them.” The MPL has been co-sponsored by Taj in the past. “We have a long standing relationship with the sport. Also, we are adept at hosting sportsmen and celebrities. Plus, we've renovated the hotel and are looking forward to the good business that the IPL will bring in,” Mukherjee adds.

Jayakannan, GM, Sayaji Hotels Ltd, is gung-ho about the Pune IPL as “it will definitely help the hospitality scene here.” He adds, “A lot of people will travel to Pune including officials, broadcasters and all those who work behind the scenes. Their presence in the city will boost business. They will require food and beverage services and I'm sure all the hotels will be full during the period.”

Sayaji is located on the Mumbai-Bangalore Bypass Highway and this location “will give us an edge over other hotels,” Jayakannan remarks.

"Any big sporting event, which will have a huge audience and crowd, is likely to benefit in F&B and room occupancy. So, now with Pune's own IPL team, the hospitality sector can look forward to making brisk business but it also depends on the number of matches that will be played here," says Neerav Panchamia, VP Operations, Gordon House Hotel. "That said, hotels which are in close proximity to the stadium where IPL matches will be played will have an advantage. So hotels in Aundh will be favoured over hotels, say, in Kharadi. And as far as Gordon House goes, we are somewhere in the middle between Aundh and Kharadi and one of the five-stars in this neighbourhood, so we have a fair chance of winning the bid to host the IPL team," adds he.

Right now, the bidding for hosting IPL 4 hasn't started and "with the current IPL fiasco it seems it will take longer to initiate the whole process of bidding, organising, planning..." says Panchamia, albeit on a lighter note!

GEARED UP

“We are proud that Pune will have its own team. I sincerely hope that the hotels in the city will benefit from the Pune IPL. There will be viewers and others connected with IPL coming in from different parts of the country, and we're all geared up to host them,”says Sandip Mukherjee, GM, Taj Blue Diamond

Nupur Chaudhuri

Cricket in Pune will not be the same again: Shirke

With the MPL going great guns and IPL all set to begin next year, cricket in Pune will never be the same again, Ajay Shirke tells Shreeram Gokhale

What was the concept behind starting a league like MPL?

We knew Twenty20 cricket is gaining huge popularity, and it is a format that is here you stay. So we wanted to create a league for our own boys, which would provide them with an opportunity to get a feel of the game, and to play in a competitive league of our own.

How do you rate the success of the first MPL?

I don't like to make a success look huge, but I think MPL was a great success. If you just look at the general public interest it generated, (with nearly 12-13 thousand people turning up for the final at Deccan Gymkhana), the fact that four of our boys got selected to play in the IPL, Maharashtra team won the BCCI national Twenty20 title, so whichever parameter you use, I think MPL was a great success.

This year, MPL is going live on Neo Sports. What kind of a impact will that have?

I think we are the first State cricket association who are providing their cricketers with an opportunity to perform in front of millions of viewers. May be we will not get a million viewers for MPL-II, but we know that it will be watched by people who matter. It will be watched by selectors, BCCI officials, IPL franchise people, their talent scouts. And that is what a cricketer wants more than anything else. He wants people to see what he is capable of, what he can do on a cricket field. And mind you, the sheer arithmetic is against a cricketer in our country. I mean, there are so many cricketers fighting for the very few spots. So it is a great opportunity for our boys to show their skills to a larger audience. It is a major scale-up of the tournament.

With Pune getting an IPL team for next year, do you see MPL acting as a platform for players from Maharashtra?

Definitely. What we are doing, with the support of the Sakal Media Group and Neo, is that we are providing IPL franchisees with a huge database. We are providing them the stats of every cricketer, how he performs in a competitive T20 format, with top-class camerawork visuals being available. I am sure IPL franchisees, not just from Pune, but from outside as well, will keep a close eye on MPL.

With MPL gaining popularity, IPL coming to town next year, where do you see cricket in Pune going?

As we all know, cricket is a hugely popular game. But I can see it becoming even more popular with MPL and IPL. What it will do is provide cricket lovers a chance to watch top quality cricket regularly. In the past, all we used to get is one one-day international in two-three years. And now, with the issues we have about Nehru Stadium, Pune has not seen an ODI in a long time. With IPL, we are looking at nine matches every year. You add 31 MPL matches to it from next year, and we are going to have plenty of top quality cricket in the city, and that too regularly.