MCA is set to reward their ground staff for their hard work in maintaining the pitches during a hectic IPL season.
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The three venues – MCA – Wankhede Stadium (Pictured above), MCA-BKC ground and DY Patil Stadium has been home for ten IPL teams for two months. (File)
Forty eight groundsmen will be rewarded rupees one lakh each by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for their efforts during the Indian Premier League (IPL). The decision on the proposal is likely to get a green signal in MCA’s Apex Council meeting .
The three venues – MCA-Wankhede Stadium, MCA-BKC ground and DY Patil Stadium has been home for ten IPL teams for two months. While the two stadiums – Wankhede and DY Patil hosted IPL league games, the MCA-BKC was a practice ground for four teams on a daily basis.
MCA felt that the hard-work done by groundsmen throughout the summer needed a special reward. Many groundsmen worked overnight shifts to prepare practice and match pitches. The MCA was pleased that there wasn’t a single complaint about pitches despite matches being played daily in the gruelling April-May heat.
During the tournament, the MCA had tied up with a private company Cadbury which enabled the groundsmen of Wankhede Stadium to stay in a five-star hotel. The company took care of the lodging and travelling on match days. Vasant Mohite, a 57-year-old groundsman at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, had told this newspaper how in the past IPL seasons they would spend the nights in a small room at the stadium itself, where mosquitoes made sleep difficult. “Machhar kaat ke dimag kharab kar deta hai (mosquitoes would drive us mad). After the match, we could not go anywhere as train services were shut.”
The Indian board had earlier announced a cash prize of 1.25 crores for curators. “We’ve witnessed some high octane games and I would like (to) thank each one of them for their hard work. 25 lacs each for CCI, Wankhede, DY Patil and MCA, Pune. 12.5 lacs each for Eden and Narendra Modi stadium,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah had said.
