In a heartfelt gesture of appreciation, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Monday that it will award a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh each to the groundsmen and curators of the ten regular Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 venues. This commendation highlights the vital contributions of these "unsung heroes" who have maintained top-quality pitches throughout the season.
The ten regular IPL venues recognized are Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium, Kolkata's Eden Gardens, Jaipur's Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium, Bengaluru's M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Lucknow's Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium, Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, and Chandigarh's Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium.
In addition to these, three supplementary venues—Guwahati, Visakhapatnam, and Dharamsala—were also acknowledged. Guwahati served as the secondary home venue for the Rajasthan Royals, Visakhapatnam hosted the Delhi Capitals' first leg of home matches, and Dharamsala was where the Punjab Kings played their final two home games. Groundsmen and curators at these additional venues will each receive Rs 10 lakh.
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah expressed his gratitude on social media platform X, stating, "The unsung heroes of our successful T20 season are the incredible ground staff who worked tirelessly to provide brilliant pitches, even in difficult weather conditions. As a token of our appreciation, the groundsmen and curators at the 10 regular IPL venues will receive INR 25 lakhs each, and the same at the 3 additional venues will get INR 10 lakhs each. Thank you for your dedication and hard work!"
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