There is room for improvement at Wankhede

Yesterday'smatch between Sri Lanka and New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium served as a prelude to the World Cup final on April 2. The 23,000-odd boisterous crowd provided a good opportunity for the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to test its swanky stadium before the summit clash.However, there remain a few areas of concern.


The Mumbai Cricket Association rectified the spelling mistake in the
signboard of the Sachin Tendulkar Stand at the Wankhede Stadium, asu00a0
reported by MiD DAY on Thursday. Pic/Atul Kamble

Crowd management
Though the stadium was only half-full, the spectators faced a lot of inconvenience while entering. Long queues could have been avoided had there been multiple entry points. There was chaos at Gate No 5, where people had to wait long given just two entry points.

Ambiguity in rules
This was a problem during the game between New Zealand and Canada last Sunday as well. There was no clarity on which items were allowed and which weren't inside the stadium,u00a0 creating problems for the spectators. At some checkpoints, mobiles were not allowed whereas, according to an MCA directive, mobiles and purses are allowed.

Sanitation & hygiene
Being the venue for the final, one expected cleanliness to be of the highest order. However, some toilets had leakages while others were filthy. There was no proper sanitation around the food courts too. There weren't enough dustbins as well.

Venue manager Vinod Deshpande agreed there was room for improvement. "We are learning from our mistakes after every game and working towards making things better. We are taking note of the problems and we will iron them out before the final. We are confident of staging a grand game," Deshpande told MiD DAY.