First T-20 match in Dehradun

DAINIK NATION BUREAU

At the initiative of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, the newly constructed Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium at Raipur (Dehradun) will play host to a T-20 cricket match series to be played between minnows Afghanistan and Bangladesh from June 3. This was disclosed by the state sports minister Arvind Pandey while interacting with media on Monday.

The cricket team from Afghanistan will arrive in Dehradun on May 28 while Bangladesh team will reach here the following day to play in the short series. Three matches would be played between the two teams.
“The Afghanistan team will also play practice matches with the team from Uttarakhand before the start of the series. The officials have been asked to make all the security and other arrangements for the teams,”  Pandey added.

Ironically, few days ago the officials from the Afghanistan cricket board had visited Dehradun and expressed their desire to use the Raipur international cricket stadium as a home ground. “The chairman of the cricket board from the country had been scouting for suitable stadiums where there cricketers could practice and he found the Raipur stadium suitable.

The first match would be held on June 3, second on June 5 and the third on June 7. As per the officials,  the teams from Afghanistan and Bangladesh would stay in hotels located around the Chakrata road and Selaqui.

The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium was constructed under the Congress regime and the entire construction work was completed in two years. The stadium was constructed at the cost of Rs 237.20 crore and fulfils all the norms laid down by the International Cricket Council. It is also equipped to host day and night cricket matches and has a seating capacity for 25,000 spectators. Then CM Harish Rawat had organise WWF show participated by great Khali.