Sector 16 cricket stadium to have floodlights

Speaking to Newsline,Nayyab Singh,Senior Manager at the stadium,said,“The process of installing floodlights has already got underway at the stadium. The UT Administration Engineering Department along with the concerned company is involved in the process. Hopefully within three months the installation process will be completed.”

It is learnt that six floodlights poles,having 60 bulbs will be installed at the stadium. The Stadium,which hosted a one-day international match in 2007 after a hiatus of fourteen years,could never have the floodlights as the UT Administration was short on funds.

It may be recalled that the UT Administration spent approximately 4 crore to 5 crore in 2007 in upgrading the Stadium,including installation of the electronic scoreboard and building-up of Press Box but once the floodlights come up,the Stadium would be a viable ground for more and more international games. Once the floodlights are in place in the Stadium,which has hosted several ODIs but just one Test match in 1990 would be ready to host Test matches too.

Last year,IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab owners had shown interest in hosting T20 matches during IPL,but due to unavailability of floodlights at the stadium they organised three matches at a stadium in Dharamsala. With the floodlights being installed in next three months,the Chandigarh stadium could host IPL season five Kings XI Punjab matches.