48 groundsmen to get a lakh each from Mumbai Cricket Association
The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) will pay each of the forty-eight groundsmen rupees one lakh as compensation for their efforts during the Indian Premier League (IPL). The MCA’s Apex Council meeting is anticipated to give the idea the go-ahead.
Ten IPL teams have called the three locations—MCA-Wankhede Stadium, MCA-BKC Ground, and DY Patil Stadium—home for the past two months. The MCA-BKC served as four teams’ daily practise facility while the Wankhede and DY Patil stadiums held IPL league matches.
MCA believed that groundskeepers deserved a special prize for their tireless efforts throughout the summer. To prepare practise and match pitches, several groundsmen put in midnight stints. Despite matches being played everyday in the oppressive heat of April and May, the MCA was delighted that there were no complaints concerning the pitches.
The groundskeepers at Wankhede Stadium were able to stay in a five-star hotel thanks to a partnership between the MCA and a private company called Cadbury during the competition. On game days, the firm handled travel and housing. A 57-year-old groundskeeper at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium described to this newspaper how during previous IPL seasons, he and other players would spend the evenings in a cramped area inside the stadium, where bugs made it difficult to sleep. The sentence “Machhar kaat ke dimag kharab kar deta hai” (mosquitoes would drive us mad). We had nowhere to go after the game because the trains were not running.
A 1.25 crore financial reward for curators was already offered by the Indian board. “We’ve seen some intense matches, and I want to congratulate each of them for their efforts. For CCI, Wankhede, DY Patil, and MCA, Pune, 25 lacs apiece. “Eden and Narendra Modi stadiums would receive 12.5 lacs apiece,” BCCI Secretary Jay Shah had stated.
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