India vs England 2016: Outfield, pitch remain unaffected; stadium a mess

MA Chidambaram Stadium
A panoramic view of the MA Chidarambam stadium in Chennai

There were always dark clouds (sorry, excuse the pun) surrounding the Chennai Test ever since the schedule for the Test series was announced. The fifth and final Test of the India-England series was scheduled in the Southern coastal city for the middle of December.

Chennai generally enjoys a good amount of rain in the winter months over the past couple of years. Especially in 2015, when the floods left the city crippled. A year to the date of the floods, people in Chennai were worried as the rains picked up.

Over the next couple of days, leading up to the 12th of December, there were warnings of the possibility of a cyclone named Vardah that might affect the city. And surely enough, through the course of the day on the 12th, the cyclone wrecked havoc in the city.

With wind speeds at over 100 kmph at one point, there were trees uprooted, billboards that were shattered, telephone and electricity lines that were affected.

Vardah

It thus then comes at a relief that the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association secretary Kashi Viswanathan came out and spoke to the media regarding the condition of the MA Chidambaram Stadium ahead of the game.

He reported that the cyclone wrecked havoc, damaging the sight screen, displacing the bulbs of the floodlights and destroying the air conditioners present in various parts of the stadium. With the match scheduled to begin on Friday, the 16th of December, he stressed the need to get things in order in two days time.

There was to be a silver lining, however, as he said the pitch and outfield remained largely unaffected. News that certainly comes as music to the years of the fans in Chennai who have been waiting for a Test match for a while.

"The assuring part is that the pitch and the outfield has not been affected by the cyclone. But sightscreen has been damaged. The bulbs have blown off, air conditioners damaged. There have been hundreds of tree trunks lying in the road leading upto the stadium. Our challenge is to set everything in order in the next two days. I am confident we will be able to set everything right," Viswanthan told PTI on Tuesday.

England will travel to Chennai hoping to salvage some pride on what has been a very disappointing series for the visitors as they are 3 – 0 down after the first four Tests.

Further, when asked about the possibility of the three stands, that are currently undergoing a legal tussle seating people, Viswanathan confirmed that it will remain empty for the Test as well.

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Edited by Staff Editor