International cricket returns to the city tomorrow after nearly four years with the third ODI between India and West Indies but the arrangements for match coverage left much to be desired at Green Park stadium due to mismanagement by district administration officials on the eve of the game today.
Even though new pavilions and stands have come up at the Green Park, which comes under the state government's purview, very little has changed for the general public and the mediapersons had to face problems from uninformed cops, officials and bureaucrats.
The media had to go through plenty of hardships to enter the stadium to cover the two teams' practice sessions and mandatory press conference on the eve of the match.
It was cops all around and even inside the ground. They were reluctant to allow journalists enter the stadium today citing various reasons and even told a scribe that "your accreditation card mentions the match is on November 27, so why have you come today. We can't let you in. You can enter the stadium only tomorrow".
With tempers starting to flare up on both sides, it took an intervention from a top UPCA official to calm things down.
Once inside the stadium, things were no better as all entry gates to the pavilion or near to the two teams' practice nets were inaccessible.
To the disappointment of the scribes who are covering the match, the Media Centre was unprepared as there were no wireless internet connections available and when quizzed to an ignorant orgainser, he simply said, "You will have to purchase wifi".
The scene at the media conference room, a prohibited area for all barring journalists and orgainsers was packed with general public, which prompted India's media manager R N Baba to say that "I don't see any journalists out here".
The poor photo journalists had to face the maximum problem as they were not allowed to go near the nets and had to shoot from a spectator stand which was at a distance from the nets.
