da prosport bet： The 3000 English fans expected for the first Indian-England Test to bestaged at the PCA stadium, Mohali from December 3 to 7, will now beable to buy match tickets at cheaper rates
Staff Reporter18-Sep-2001The 3000 English fans expected for the first Indian-England Test to bestaged at the PCA stadium, Mohali from December 3 to 7, will now beable to buy match tickets at cheaper rates. Inderjit Singh Bindra, thePunjab Cricket Association (PCA) president, while announcing the slashin ticket rates for the Test in a press conference after the executivecommittee meeting, said that the visiting fans will now have to pay50 pounds for a ticket.The PCA has also slashed the rates of season tickets. For the generalblock, the rate will be Rs 50 instead of Rs 100. The VIP block ticketswill be available at Rs 250 instead of Rs 500 but there will be nochange in the rate of VIP AC Lounge (Rs 5000) tickets, he added.He further said that it has been decided to introduce a VIP familyticket for the first time at Rs 500. It will entitle the entry of thehusband and wife along with two children. The student’s tickets willbe available at Rs 30 instead of Rs 50.Giant TV Screen for PCA stadiumThe PCA are also planning to add a giant TV replay screen, a speedgun, electronically operated side screen, a projection screen for theAC lounge and a mechanical scoreboard to the stadium.Bindra said that the TV replay screen is estimated to cost Rs 3.50crore. Global tenders will be invited for purchasing the machine. Thespeed gun meanwhile will cost the PCA Rs 10 to 12 Lakh.Meanwhile, a sum of Rs 25 lakh has been earmarked for the purchasingtechnical equipment, which includes grass cutting machines and pitchcovers. The PCA also plans to upgrade its coaching centre for which itwill invest Rs 1.50 crores.Gate management, reception of guests at the airport, the arrangementsfor media men and catering etc will be handed over to professionalagencies. To achieve all this, the PCA plans to raise a loan worth Rs3 to 4 crore from banks, while raising a similar amount from subsidythe BCCI gives to the state units.”All arrangements concerning the conduct of the Test match will bedone in a professional manner, ” Bindra added.Benefit matches for two former Ranji players Two Deodhar Trophy matches out of the four allotted to the PCA willnow become benefit matches for two former Ranji players Kishan Mohanand Arun Sharma. While Kishan Mohan has been allotted the matchbetween North Zone and West Zone to be played at Amritsar on February20, Arun Sharma has got the North Zone v East Zone match to be held atLudhiana on February 22.Announcing this, M P Pandove, secretary of the PCA said that thevenues of the three Ranji Trophy matches to be played in the statethis year has been finalised. Punjab v Himachal Pradesh matchscheduled to start from November 1 to 4 will be played at Mohali,while the Punjab v Services and Punjab v Delhi matches will be playedat Amritsar from November 7 to 10 and November 30 to December 3,respectively.