AHMEDABAD, JAN 20: Gujarat is admittedly the ``minnow'' in West Zone cricket. There may be many cricketing reasons for it, but one non-cricketing reason is the callousness of the administration towards sports infrastructure.Many first class cricketers in Ahmedabad, with the Ranji Super Leagues staring some in the face, are being prevented from practising at a premier ground in the city for the sake of hosting a cultural event.Cricketers who went for practice to the Sardar Patel Stadium, Navrangpura, on Monday were surprised to find that a massive dias and floodlight poles had been erected, covering all the six turf practice wickets, to stage a sound and light show on the Freedom Movement, being organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.One told The Indian Express that they were asked not to practise and most of them had to leave after some time, while some managed to get only a bit of `knocking' practice.Two players, who did not wishto be named, work in Ahmedabad and play Ranji Trophy for Saurashtra, whose Super League matches begin in the first week next month. Others have to practise for the ongoing major leagues, the Gordhandas Cup.Incidentally, matches of the Gordhandas Cup could not be allotted to the Sardar Patel Stadium (one match of the tournament between the RBI and the Dena Bank started on Monday at the MG Science ground which has only a matting wicket). The Vivekanand Trophy, in which teams from all over Gujarat participate, was to begin on January 12, but had to be postponed as digging of the ground to get it ready for the show started on January 8.``They have already spent 15 days just for the preparations for the week-long show (scheduled from January 20 to 26) and then it is to be followed by an Asha Bhonsle nite on January 29,'' said a former first class player, peeved that they could not obtain good turf wickets to practise on.Players said, ``The most difficult thing in Ahmedabad is to get a ground to practise''and they had ``worked very hard'' to get the Sardar Patel Stadium. The teams which practise there are of State Bank of India, Income Tax, Customs and the corporation, including the fire brigade.The players said considering the amount of work required to repair the ground, it was unlikely that it would be available again before mid-February.Another first class cricketer of Gujarat, who too did not wish to be named, said, ``When we don't get turf wickets to practise on, but only matting or cement ones, how can we be expected to perform well in the Ranji Trophy, all matches of which are played on turf wickets''.Another player said, ``If there is a match going on at the ground, we can understand it and are ready to forego practice, but if it is for a drama..''Deputy Municipal Commissioner Pinakin Dixit said, ``The Government of India had directed the State Government'' to hold the show and the municipal corporation ``could not do anything about it''.When asked whether some other venue could nothave been selected for the sound and light show as it was evidently damaging the cricket ground, Dixit refused to comment, but added that if the players wished to practise, ``there are more wickets outside the ground''.However, players reacted by saying that they were ``first class cricketers'' and ``have to practise on turf wickets, while those outside the ground are cement ones''.
