Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajeev Shukla has jumped to the defense of the Green Park stadium in Kanpur amid heavy criticism over the venue’s poor facilities.

The Indian national cricket team is currently facing the Bangladesh national cricket team at the Green Park stadium. On Day 1, only 35 overs of play were possible due to rain, wet outfields and poor lighting.

Meanwhile, things got worse on day 2 as the entire day was washed out by rain in the city. Day 3 was even worse as, even though it did not rain during the scheduled playing hours, the teams were unable to start the game due to the wet outfield.

The referees carried out several inspections, but after a long delay the decision was made to suspend the third day as well. This did not sit well with many fans and pundits, who lashed out at the Board of Control for Cricket in India for organizing a test match at the Green Park stadium even though the venue’s drainage facilities were not very good.

However, Rajeev Shukla has defended the Green Park stadium as a Test venue, saying that Kanpur is among the BCCI’s original six Test centers and they wanted it to host a big game.

“Well, criticism is something we are used to in the BCCI administration in cricket. But everything is being criticised,” Shukla said on Monday while talking to reporters, quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

“When we don’t give games to Kanpur because [of certain reasons]Then they criticized me too. Now we are playing the game and they still criticize me for why they gave it to Kanpur. So that continues.

“You know, the problem is that this land is around 80 years old. It is our heritage. If you remember, it used to be a permanent testing centre. The original six permanent testing centers were Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kanpur. “This is a permanent centre. So the idea was to hold test matches here. This is the first time in 80 years that it rained so much that we couldn’t host the match for two days,” added Rajeev Shukla.

History suggests that no party has been abandoned here in Kanpur – Rajeev Shukla

Rajeev Shukla further said that the Kanpur stadium is one of the oldest stadiums in the country and during its construction proper technologies were not available due to which the facilities at Green Park are not up to the mark. He also admitted that it is necessary to improve the facilities of the place.

“History suggests that here in Kanpur no match has been suspended. There are many places in the world where matches have been suspended due to rain. So here, if for two days the match could not be played, I don’t think there should be too much fuss,” Shukla said.

“When this ground and the stadium were being built, those technologies were not available. Now the technologies are available. Like in our stadium in Lucknow, we have that technology. And in Varanasi, we are building another stadium. There we have modern and high-quality technology. High technology to eliminate rainwater.

“We are also planning here. Today I had a conversation with the administration about how we can develop this system by which rainwater can be immediately evacuated. [drained]”said Rajeev Shukla.

Rajeev Shukla further revealed that he has already held talks with government officials related to the stadium and they agree that improvements are needed.

“The moment I reached here, I had a long discussion with government officials because this stadium belongs to the government. We agree with them,” Rajeev Shukla said.

“So, for that, you have to dig the ground, apply new technology and do everything. So, immediately after coming here, I had a conversation with the authorities and they are also on the same page and I think that soon we will be able to improve the conditions here.

“Sometimes it happens, although we all pray for [the rain god] Mr. Indra, not for it to rain, but, you know, it happens. And it happens all over the world. So why are Kanpur and Green Park being blamed unnecessarily for something that is in the hands of nature?”