By Paritosh Pramanik
ALL ROADS will lead to Jamtha today. India’s preparation for the home T20 World Cup gets rolling from Nagpur when they take on New Zealand in first of the five T20 Internationals on Wednesday evening. The white ball will fly thick and fast to all parts of the stands. The crowd would go berserk when Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, captain Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and others dispatch the ball into the night sky. Batters would go hammer and tongd while bowlers would relish hearing the sound of ball hitting the timber.
It is a sold-out encounter. Tickets were sold out in just two hours. The match will start at 7 pm but the stadium gates will be thrown open at 4 pm for the ease of spectators. The Traffic Police Department has made a few changes to the approach road in an attempt to avoid congestion. But with maximum spectators coming from one direction, there is a possibility of a jam. The authorities have appealed to spectators to use Metro and bus services to reduce congestion.
Spectators will make a beeline well in advance to get inside the stadium before the first ball is bowled.
Most Indian cricketers arrived in Nagpur well in advance and hit the nets at the right earnest.
They sweated out hard for three days and are ready for D-Day. They don’t want to leave any stone unturned as they know that India have a superior record against them. Out of the 25 encounters, India have won 14 while New Zealand emerge victors on 10 occasions with one odd game ending in a tie. India would love to extend their supremacy while New Zealand will aim to narrow the gap.
VCA Jamtha would be hosting 14th T20 International, more than any other Indian venues. India has won last three T20 matches played at this venue.
The iconic Eden Gardens has hosted 12 while Dharamsala hosted 11 and Bengaluru 10. Mumbai’s Wankhede has got a chance to host a T20 International on nine occasions.
India would hope to extend Jamtha’s record and give spectators something to cheer about.
All in all, it would be a treat for spectators who will be witnessing the cricketing gods in the city after quite some time.
Free drinking water
VCA will be providing free drinking water to the spectators. The association has requested them to make cash payment only for food items purchased, as internet and network issues make ‘on-line’ payment difficult.
Buses
Nagpur Municipal Corporation will be running additional buses from the city to and from Jamtha Stadium. Similarly, the Maha Metro will be running additional services up to New Airport Metro Station. Apart from this, VCA will also be arranging buses for pickup and drop of spectators from New Airport Metro Station and will also run shuttle bus services from the place of parking of VCA near Ultra Tech Cement Plant to and from the Jamtha Stadium T-Point.
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The other side of Surya
By Paritosh Pramanik
INDIAN captain Suryakumar Yadav loves to pose a smile every time. He also makes the press conferences lighter with his style of replies. On Tuesday, the other side of Surya was on display as his replies evoked laughter in the press conference hall of VCA’s Jamtha Stadium.
As the skipper walked in the media room and took his seat, his antics started.
A ball-shaped broadcasters’ logo was kept on the table near the mic. Bemused, Surya picked up to check it. Somebody from the media said ‘ball hai’. “Wo to important hai (It’s the most important thing),” Surya quickly replied amidst laughter in the press conference hall to set the presser rolling.
When one of the scribes reminded him that India lost the Test series against New Zealand and recently the One-Dayers. “We have lost to them (Tests) some 10 years back, isn’t it?,” quipped the captain to another round of laughter. “Somebody just said 2026 aa gaya … so I thought it’s too old to talk. Let’s talk about the T20 format because we will be playing this format for the moment,” replied Surya.
However, the best was reserved for the last. When asked about the pitch and how it would behave on the match day, Surya said, “Achcha dikh raha hai … ekdum hara bhara … khali santre nahi uge hai udhar … but achcha hai. Ground is good … the crowd is good here,” he sarcastically said and left the room amidst laughter.
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