With the help of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCC), the Bihar government plans to redevelop the state’s first international cricket stadium in Patna, the capital city.
The Moin-Ul-Haq Stadium will be redeveloped after a MoU between the Bihar government and the BCCI. This decision was taken during a cabinet meeting chaired by Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Mr S Siddharth, Additional Cheif Secretary (Cabinet Secretariat) told the reporters, “The cabinet on Tuesday approved the state sports department proposal for signing of the MoU with the BCCI. This will transform it into an international stadium equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, where day-and-night matches along with other sporting activities will be organised”.
He further added, “After completion of the construction, the BCCI will organise matches and other sporting activities for seven years. After that period, profit will be shared with the state government on a 50-50 basis”.
The construction work of the stadium will take 36 months and it will start immediately after the agreement is signed.
Moin-Ul-Haq Stadium in Bihar was neglected earlier
The Moin-Ul-Haq stadium was earlier known as the “Rajendra Nagar Stadium” as it’s located in Rajendra Nagar in Patna, Bihar. It has hosted 3 ODIs including one game from the ICC Cricket World Cup 1996.
Later on in 1970, it was renamed the “Moin-Ul-Haq Stadium” after the death of Moin Ul Haq. He was one of the founding vice-presidents of the Bihar Cricket Association. He was the general secretary of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and India’s chef-de-mission of the Indian Olympic Contingent in 1948 (London) and 1952 (Helsinki).
Currently, the Stadium is in very bad condition. No matches are being hosted here due to a problem between the Bihar Cricket Association and the BCCI. At the moment, the stadium has a capacity of 25000. The Bihar government earlier was decided to increase to 42,500.
Bihar’s Ranji team play their home games at this venue. It’ll be a great gift for the fans in Bihar once the stadium gets redeveloped and international matches being held there.