Gusty winds damage canopy at Hyderabad stadium

Strong winds that wreaked havoc in Hyderabad on Monday night, blew away a major portion of the canopy at the Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium, hours after the BCCI shifted IPL final from Chennai to the city.

A part of the canopy at the pavilion side was damaged by the gusty winds, which claimed two lives in two separate incidents elsewhere in the city and affected the normal life.

This happened hours after the officials of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) hailed the decision of the BCCI to shift May 12 IPL final to Hyderabad.

However, HCA was hopeful that this will not have much of impact on the arrangements to host the next match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab on April 29 and the summit clash on May 12. Both the matches start at 8 p.m.

A team of the agency which installed the canopy a few years ago visited the stadium on Tuesday and assessed the damage. HCA CEO Panduranga Murthy said based on their report HCA would decide how to proceed further.

One person was killed and three injured when one of the floodlight towers at L. B. Stadium in the heart of the city came crashing on Monday due to the gale force.

L.B. Stadium used to host the cricket matches before construction of Rajiv Gandhi stadium at Uppal on the city outskirts in 2003.

--IANS

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