Basil Sylvester Pinto
If one tries to recall the last international cricket match staged in Goa, it goes quite far back that one cannot really remember, albeit vaguely at best. Part of the reason is that the Goa Cricket Association is more in the news for scams and selection controversies hampering the growth of cricket in the State.
Goa is yet to have a full-fledged cricket stadium with the dilly-dallying and ungainly politics of the GCA hindering progress in that direction. Time and again the GCA has given false hopes to cricket aficionados in the State, who are starved of international cricket, but each time they provide a barrier on their own count.
The most recent, that they are cash-strapped.
Speaking at a media briefing at a hotel on Saturday, former GCA Joint Secretary Shirish Naik in the presence of Fermina Khaunte, reiterated his stand made a year ago on providing support to the GCA to construct the stadium at Dhargalim.
“It has been 34 years since the State has gained full membership of the BCCI but till date they have not been able to construct an international stadium.
They have said that they have made attempts but I do not think they are serious on doing it,” Naik lamented.
“I have been the joint secretary of GCA for two terms when Ramesh Chowgule was the president. The proposal for a cricket stadium was there 18 years back with the association then helmed by Prashant Joshi and was taken over by Dayanand Narvekar. With Narvekar taking charge, the performance graph declined. The interest of cricket spiraled downwards. There were problems arising for selection. The people were losing a grip on the game as there was still no international stadium,” he stated.
“I first came forward with my proposal in 2006 when Sharad Pawar was the BCCI president. At that time, things were not going well in GCA and I wanted the association dismissed. Under the nomenclature of Cricket Goa, I put an appeal across to Pawar to give us a chance to work for the betterment of cricket in the State and dismiss the sitting committee.
I was told to get the majority of the clubs affiliated to GCA first. Of the existing 110 clubs, I got the support of 70 clubs. But yet, we did not go ahead with our plan as Manohar Parrikar had intervened to state that to allow the Swapnil Salkar led dispensation to do some good work,” he recounted.
“Then again with Dayanand Narvekar as the GCA President in 2010, problems arose that prompted his dismissal. A committee was appointed to do the auditing of all the 28 associations with the BCCI and they found out GCA led the corruption list. In the last 18 years, GCA has defaulted and there can be no escape for people like Dayanand Narvekar, Chetan Desai, Vinod Phadke, Akbar Mulla, etc,” Naik divulged.
“The sports minister had allotted a plot to GCA for construction of the international cricket stadium at Dhargalim. The government was paying Rs 50 per sq km which the locals declined, while we are willing to pay much higher at Rs 5,000 per sq km as per the evaluation of agricultural land by the central government.
We have the goodwill of 15-liked minded cricket fans from India and NRIs and have created funds of Rs 110 crores for the construction of a cricket stadium. Fermina Khaunte has got us six overseas sponsors from the gulf and Canada while late Arun Naik has got us two sponsors at Rs 15 crores each,” he revealed.
Cricket Goa had worked out this project 5 years back, and the sponsorship was ready a year ago and they were given a three year period to construct the stadium.
The deadline has elapsed and now they have been given time until December 2018 to get the proposal in motion failing which the money raised will be taken back.
The alternative committee has plans in place in challenging the ruling dispensation
for the long-standing dream of an international cricket stadium.
It is to be noted that they have made a low-budget, complete lay-out for the international cricket stadium which will be part of a sports centre. The stadium will have a capacity of 40,000 people with comfortable seating for 20,000 people with the others accommodated on grass.
The catch here lies in to the fact that unless Cricket Goa gets the proposal of NOC from GCA which is affiliated to the BCCI, only then they can commit upon the project. “We have also approached the government but they have not given us the approval for conversion of land,” Naik disclosed.
With time ticking away rapidly, Naik assured that given the opportunity, he will realise an international cricket stadium in the State before December 2020.
