The upcoming India vs England Test series, which is starting on February 5 in Chennai, is likely to witness spectators being allowed at the stands. The Southern India city is hosting the first two Tests and following the latest COVID-19 guidelines from the central government, the hosts Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) is contemplating allowing 50 percent of the capacity crowd from second Test onwards.
A senior TNCA official said it will not be possible to permit the crowd in the first Test due to short notice but they will try to get it for the second match, which is starting from February 14.
“There is no time to allow entry of spectators for the first Test starting on February 5 as we only received the government notification on Saturday. You can’t organize entry of spectators at such a short notice,” a senior TNCA official has been quoted saying in a recent PTI report.
“But yes, now with fresh guidelines, there is every possibility that second Test starting from February 14 might have spectators as per notification,” he added.
The M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, which is also known as Chepauk, has a crowd capacity of around 50,000.
Meanwhile, crowd entry is almost certain for the third and fourth Test, which will be played at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad. Along with crowd media is also likely to be allowed at the press box to cover the matches.
Earlier the BCCI had decided to arrange the series in a bio-secure bubble and under a closed-door environment. The ECB is another stakeholder that had also requested for “no crowds,” ahead of the series. However, the latest SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) from the Government of India has come as a huge sigh of relief for the cricket fans across the country.