HCA apathy reason for problems at Uppal stadium, hosting matches despite hurdles: Special officer

HYDERABAD: Former Director-General of CRPF Kode Durga Prasad, who is overseeing the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) affairs as a special officer, has said that they were able to organise four matches at the Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium in Uppal despite several hurdles. As per Supreme Court directions, Durga Prasad is assisting a one-man committee of retired Supreme Court judge L Nageswara Rao in resolving the HCA controversies and problems plaguing it. He briefed the media on Tuesday over the problems being faced in holding cricket matches at the Uppal stadium.

Stating that they had successfully conducted four matches, the retired IPS officer said that they were taking adequate measures to ensure there were no problems in drinking water supply. Expressing concern over the issues with the drainage system, he promised to make sure that these problems did not crop up in the upcoming matches.

Durga Prasad pointed out that the problems such as damage to ACs, and TVs in corporate boxes were being faced due to lack of timely maintenance. However, he said that they were gearing up to host the World Cup matches at the Uppal stadium.

The former CRPF DG said that they were receiving good support from the police in dealing with the fake ticket racketeers. He said that, henceforth, they would physically examine the tickets before the match at the stadium.

Alleging that the HCA had not made any progress in the last three years, Durga Prasad said that they were taking steps to appoint bowling and batting coaches to train budding players. He said that they would appoint a director to the HCA and conduct the elections under the auspices of retired Supreme Court judge L Nageswara Rao.

The IPS officer also reacted to the BCCI allegations, saying that the audit of HCA was not being conducted since 2018 and clarified that it would be completed by the end of the year.