BCCI gives green signal as competitive cricket returns to Karnail Singh Stadium

Saba Karim, GM (Cricket Operations), BCCI, visited the Karnail Singh Stadium recently and declared the venue fit to host matches.

A view of the Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi.

The new year has brought in good news for the Railways. The BCCI has given the green signal to the Karnail Singh Stadium, the traditional home ground of the Railways team, to host Ranji Trophy matches this season.

The ground will host the contest between Railways and Madhya Pradesh from January 11, and the one between Railways and Karnataka from January 27.

The Board provided technical and financial assistance to spruce up the Karnail Singh Stadium and the ground in Palam, which is Services' home ground. Ashish Bhowmick, the East Zone curator from Assam, was sent to provide help; he worked alongside Rakesh Mehrotra, Railways' curator since 2003, to have the ground up to standard.

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The pitch at the centre and the ones for practice have been relaid. The pitch was played on recently, in an U-23 contest. The outfield has a lot of grass now, and the dressing room refurbished.

Saba Karim, GM (Cricket Operations), BCCI, visited the stadium recently and declared the venue fit to host matches.

Last season, Railways played all its home matches in Visakhapatnam after its pitch was deemed to be under-prepared and not fit to host BCCI's domestic matches.