While the -led Indian team toiled hard to win all four of their Women’s World Cup matches (vs New Zealand, Bangladesh, Australia and South Africa) including Sunday’s final at the DY Patil Stadium to emerge world champions, behind the scenes, a bunch of men worked equally hard, if not more, to ensure that no match was affected by the city’s unseasonal showers.
The DY Patil Stadium’s 50-member ground staff, led by Ground Manager Manjitsingh Malhi, worked tirelessly to deliver the perfect platform on which Team India established their global supremacy.
‘Weather was challenging’
“Yes, the weather was challenging, we had to show our resilience, we had to show a little character. But then we have been doing this for so many years now. This team of groundsmen are extremely versatile and well-trained thanks to Vijay [Patil] sir [owner of the stadium]. From to football then football to cricket, we keep doing a lot of things on this ground throughout the year,” Malhi told mid-day on Tuesday.
Ground Manager Manjitsingh Malhi
When asked how tough it was for his team to ensure that the turf was appropriate for the final despite heavy rains since Sunday morning, Malhi replied: “We did multiple mock drills [ahead of the World Cup] because it had already started raining before and during the World Cup. Then when the tournament started, we saw that a couple of matches were washed out in Sri Lanka, so that made us more alert to the situation. Earlier our deployment was 20 staffers, but then we grew that number to 50. For all the games, we began work at 6am. During non-match days, we also worked on preparing the practice wickets at the nearby training ground too. But credit also goes to Vijay sir, as the stadium was built in 2006 with an excellent sub-drainage system. In this sand-based system, no matter how much rain there is, the ground should drains out quickly and can be ready for play within 45 minutes,” added Malhi.
The India vs South Africa final was scheduled to start at 3.00pm, but heavy showers saw it begin at 5.00pm, just half-an hour after the rain stopped.
Short turnaround time
“We were pretty confident that even if it rains for three or four hours, our drainage system will do the job. So, we started taking off the covers at around 4.30pm, after I spoke to the 4th umpire. We told him very clearly that we can give you the ground in 15 minutes,” said Malhi.
The DY Patil ground has five big covers (120 by 110 feet each) to cover the run-up area and surrounding outfield, but as a precautionary measure, they ordered special covers from the United Kingdom just before India’s last league game against New Zealand. “As soon as we found out that it was raining, we had standby covers. But Vijay sir did not want to take any chances and imported one of the world’s best covers for the India vs NZ match,” Malhi said.
Malhi and his team are a relieved lot that all went well after all. “Everyone [ICC, BCCI, players and team support staff] were very happy with the ground conditions given our turnaround time. The weather was a challenge, 100 per cent, but so was out commitment,” Malhi signed off.