da stake casino： The city is an unlikely setting for the most important first-class match of the Indian domestic calendar
Siddarth Ravindran in Mysore10-Jan-2010
The Gangothri Glades is hosting a Ranji final barely three years after holding its maiden first-class match•Nishant Ratnakar/ Bangalore Mirror
The might have rated Mysore as one of its top places tovisit this year, but the city is an unlikely setting for the mostimportant first-class match of the Indian domestic calendar. Ranji Trophy finalsare rarely held outside international centres, but the flatness of thetrack at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and the Karnataka State CricketAssociation’s (KSCA) desire to back their potent pace bowling resulted inthe Gangothri Glades landing the big game. That too barely four yearsafter holding its maiden first-class match.The organisers are understandably elated. “This is a great day for us,” says Sunaad Raghuraman, chairman of the KSCA Mysore Zone. “It is a greatoccasion. I’m sure it will create a lot of interest among the youngstershere. Mysore is fast becoming a big centre for cricket, a good alternativeto Bangalore.”It has been a hectic four days for them after Mysore was chosen as thevenue for the final. The ground was buzzing with activity a day before thegame; shamianas had just been erected over the stands, seating was beingarranged – sofas and chairs were being brought in – and a makeshift pressbox was being set up.Of the many things to be put in place before the match, the two keyingredients that needed to be looked after are the pitch and the outfield.The greenish track has been deemed satisfactory by both teams, who expectplenty of pace and bounce and feel it will last all five days. The unevenoutfield, though, has come in for criticism, with Mumbai coach Praveen Amresaying, “there are high chances of the fielders getting injured.”Little can be done about it by the final, but the organisers say there are plans to replace the existing wild grass with Bermuda grass, a staple of many sports fields.Mysore held two Ranji matches earlier this season, but neither had afull-fledged television broadcast, entailing more work before this game.”We have built two separate enclosures for the television crew,”Harikrishna Kumar, convenor of KSCA Mysore zone, said. “We have alsoconstructed stands for the correct positioning of the cameras.”Over the past few years, several Ranji finals in big cities have beenplayed in front of paltry crowds. India’s tour of Bangladesh hasrobbed the final of the star wattage of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid andZaheer Khan, but over the next week a full house is expected to cheer onthe home side.”I think that’s the advantage of playing in a centre likethis. People of Mysore really enjoy the game,” Robin Uthappa, theKarnataka captain, said. “Generally, even if it is a league game, thereare four or five thousand people. So we are obviously expecting a lotmore. It’s good to have the home support backing you and the crowd behindyou. It’s a first for a lot of boys and I am sure they are looking forwardto it.”Along with crowds comes the question of security of players. “One hundred and fiifty people from police department have been assigned for the match, a privatesecurity agency has been engaged, and 50 people from the National CadetCorps will be on duty,” Kumar says, before adding, “The crowd here is verygood. There shouldn’t be any disturbance.”After Karnataka’s semi-final, Dravid had said the future of Ranji Trophylies away from the metros. “More and more games must now be played insmaller places, as long as the facilities are good,” he said. Mysoreis doing its best to present the case for the small towns.