Chief minister Nitish Kumar laid the foundation stone of an international cricket stadium-cum-sports complex in Rajgir on Friday even as the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, 110km away in Patna, cries out for attention.
The Rajgir facility will be spread on 90 acres at Pilkhi panchayat, 4km from Rajgir town. The state-of-the-art stadium, being built for an estimated Rs 633 crore and with a seating capacity of 40,000 people, will be able to host international matches.
Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, art culture and youth affairs minister Krishna Kumar Rishi and others were present at the ceremony on Friday.
If the Rajgir stadium is proposed for international matches, the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium has already hosted two international matches — first in 1993 between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and again in 1996 when it hosted the cricket world cup match between Zimbabwe and Kenya.
This year, the government had an agreement with the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA), associate member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), to hand over the stadium from April 1. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) to be signed between Bihar government and BCA is, however, still pending in spite of clearance from the law and finance departments.
General secretary of the association Ravi Shankar Prasad Singh said: “In absence of the MoU, we are unable to conduct infrastructure development at Moin-ul-Haq Stadium. We have planned construction of a new pavilion, an electronic scoreboard, flood-light, construction of an upper floor and new dressing room among others, but we are yet to start construction.”
He added that at the time the agreement was reached between the government and BCA, it was decided that “in the next three months, government and private structures at the stadium will be shifted” but months later they still exist.
The MoU delay also affecting the BCA’s plans to host Ranji matches. The BCA has been allotted four Ranji matches in Patna from November 28 to December 1.
Bihar Players Association president Mritunjay Tiwari said: “Constructing an international stadium in Rajgir is not going to serve Bihar’s cricketing future, as the BCCI selects international match venues after going through the nearest airport and five-star hotels. Rajgir doesn’t fulfil either parameter.”
