IND vs NZ: CAB president reveals preparations for Eden Gardens international return

India will face New Zealand in the third T20I at the Eden Gardens on Sunday, November 21. The iconic ground is all set to host the final match of the T20I series and thus Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has been making sure that all the necessary preparations are done. Amidst the challenging times of the ongoing pandemic, more than 47,000 people will be welcomed at the venue as it hosts its first international game in two years.

Thus, ahead of the match, CAB president Avishek Dalmiya has opened up on the preparations. He stated that all the ground staff will be in a separate bio-bubble, inside the Eden Gardens premises. Earlier, The New Zealand recce team had visited the stadium and had expressed their satisfaction over all the preparations.

All of these strict steps have been taken by the association considering the pandemic situation in the country. Earlier in the year the IPL 2021 had to be postponed after a few Covid cases had hit the camps. A few groundsmen, along with cricketers, contracted the virus owing to which the tournament had to be postponed in May.

CAB president on the arrangements at Eden Gardens

“There will be a quarantine facility in the hotel, staff there and staff at the stadium would also have to follow the quarantine rules. There would be a channel from where they [the teams] will be going to the ground. Not the regular entry that they take from the Club House, it will be from Gate No. 17, and they will be going to the dressing room through the interiors,” Dalmiya told told Sportskeeda.

“We have shown them [recce team] the route, how things would function, and what exactly is expected from the association, as far as the safety point of view is concerned. So we explained to them the entire functioning of the bubble, which they found to be in order and which they have also liked.”

It’s not just the sporting organization that lays the norms, so it has to be whatever the current protocols and guidelines issued by the state and other government agencies, those will be followed. We are keeping one seat vacant after every three occupied seats that are already there for the social distancing. There will be temperature checking at the gates also, and we are planning to give out masks and sanitisers for free to everyone who’s entering the stadium,” Dalmiya added.