JOIN USShimoga, which boasts of at least five high quality grounds in and around the city, is all set to host the South Zone T20 tournament in March next. A proposal regarding this has been forwarded by the Karnataka State Cricket Association to the BCCI whose approval is expected to be a mere formality.
Karnataka hosted the South Zone one-day tournament early this year in Bangalore and had shown interest in conducting the T20 tournament, from where the top two teams qualify for the all-India tournament for the Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
The District headquarter, which successfully hosted a Ranji match against Uttar Pradesh early this year at the JNEC ground, will have two KSCA-owned venues operating soon near here in Navale. Besides, there is also a ground at Bhadravati, just 15 kms away from Shimoga and one maintained by PES.
In fact, the JNEC had received high praise from the BCCI-appointed match referee for its facilities. The KSCA has also signed a 10-year memorandum of understanding with the JNCE to maintain the ground.
In their effort to take the game to mofussil areas, KSCA is also mulling to host two Ranji Trophy matches outside of Bangalore this time. Mysore and Hubli are the front runners to get those matches.
Mysore already has the RC-KSCA Academy running at newly-built facilities at Gangothri Glades where the pavilion is also coming up while 90 per cent of pavilion work is complete at Hubli.