No electricity at Raipur Stadium hosting India vs Australia T20I
Raipur's Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh stadium is scheduled to host the fourth T20I between India and Australia on December 1. It will be the first T20I game at this venue. However, with hours to go for the crucial encounter, it has been learned that there is no electricity in parts of the stadium. As per NDTV, the electricity bill for the stadium is pending.
Temporary connection installed
As per the report, the electricity bill of the venue has not been paid since 2009. The stadium has an outstanding bill of Rs. 3.16 crore, due to which the electricity connection at the stadium was cut five years ago. A temporary connection was installed at the request of the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Association (CSCA), but that only covers the spectators' gallery and boxes.
Generator to be used
With electricity not available in several parts, the floodlights during the match would need to be run using a generator. Raipur Rural Circle in-charge Ashok Khandelwal stated that the CSCA has applied to increase the capacity of the temporary connection. While the current capacity of the temporary connection is 200 KV, an application to upgrade it to 1 thousand KV has been approved.
Here are the stadium stats
Though a T20I will be played for the first time in Raipur, the venue has hosted six IPL games. Interestingly, teams batting first won all six games with the average run rate in the first innings being 7.48. Meanwhile, the venue hosted its first international match earlier this year, an ODI between India and New Zealand. India comfortably won by eight wickets.
India aim to seal series
Team India can seal the deal in the upcoming game as they are 2-1 up in the five-match series. After winning the first two games, the hosts lost the previous affair as Glenn Maxwell's stunning ton stole the show. Meanwhile, the Aussies will look to level the series with a win in the upcoming duel.
