Ludhiana pitch will be repaired, assures PM

NEW DELHI, Aug 4: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Wednesday assured the Ludhiana District Cricket Association (LDCA) that his Gove...

NEW DELHI, Aug 4: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Wednesday assured the Ludhiana District Cricket Association (LDCA) that his Government would “take all steps to repair any damage caused to the Government Boys College ground” in Ludhiana where he is scheduled to address a rally on August 7. He was responding to an appeal made to him by former Test cricketer Yashpal Sharma after the Indian Express carried a report on the damage to the pitch on August 2.

In a statement, the PMO said: “The Prime Minister has assured the LDCA and sports lovers and young cricketers of Ludhiana that the Government would undertake all necessary steps to repair any damage caused to the ground or to the pitch in the wake of the proposed rally.”

Yashpal Sharma, who belongs to Ludhiana and played at the college ground before making it to the national and international level, had appealed to the Prime Minister to either change the venue or ask the state government to repair the ground which had been dug up to erectpoles. He had drawn the Prime Minister’s attention to apprehension that the “cricket pitch was likely to be spoilt during the proposed rally.”

The Prime Minister and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal are scheduled to address the rally, organised to kick off the BJP-Akali Dal election campaign in Punjab.

Yashpal Sharma welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement. “I did not expect such a positive response from the Prime Minister so early to my appeal. It shows that he respects the sentiments of sportspersons. On behalf of the LDCA and young cricketers of Ludhiana, I thank the Prime Minister for his support to sportspersons and to the cause of sport,” he said.