Cyclone Amphan: Eden Gardens suffers minor damages

The Cricket Association of Bengal has decided to consult its structural engineer for a detailed report on the cyclone’s impact on the stadium.

A floodlit Eden Gardens during the first-ever pink-ball Test in India in November, 2019.

The iconic Eden Gardens has escaped the wrath of Cyclone Amphan with minor damages.

After taking stock of the damage caused to the stadium, which has hosted two World Cup finals (1987 World Cup and 2016 World T20) and the first pink-ball Test match in India, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) top brass decided to consult its structural engineer to get a concrete idea about the cyclone’s impact.

“We don’t think there is any major damage to the Eden, but we cannot take any chances. We will consult our structural engineer to look into the issues. We will implement whatever suggestion we get from the structural engineer,” CAB president Avishek Dalmiya said.

“The manual scoreboard (at D block) needs to be looked into. Besides, a few fibre sheets above blocks ‘G’ and ‘H’ also need minor repairs. Glass panes of two of the corporate boxes need to be replaced.”

The structural engineer will inspect the venue and submit a detailed report. Majority of the issues should be sorted out sooner than later, the CAB chief said.

The pitch and the outfield areas remained unaffected by the cyclone.

ICA BENEFICIARIES

Five cricketers from Bengal will get the financial assistance from the Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) during the coronavirus pandemic. They are Sumeet Some and Krishna Dey in Category ‘A’, Tanuja Samanta and Sandhya Karmakar in Category ‘B’, and Reena Das in Category ‘C’.