India, England reach MS Dhoni's hometown for third ODI

The India and England cricket teams on Wednesday reached Mahendra Singh Dhoni's home town to be present on the inauguration of the newly constructed stadium at Ranchi on January 18 where the third one-day international between the two teams would be played the very next day.



After helping his team level the 5-match series 1-1 with a brilliant 72 at Kochi on Tuesday, Dhoni drove to his home at Harmu straight from the airport.

Rest of the players of India and England checked in at Hotel Radison amidst thousands of fans lining up to greet the cricketers. The cricketers would visit the JSCA International Cricket Stadium tomorrow for practice, the JSCA sources said.

The stadium will be inaugurated on Friday jointly by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi with Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed, Jharkhand's caretaker Chief Minister Arjun Munda, ex-CMs Babulal Marandi and Shibu Soren and President of the BCCI N Srinivasan, according to a JSCA release.

This is the first time that Ranchi is hosting an international match.

Meanwhile, Munda this evening convened a meeting to take stock of the law and order situation ahead of the January 19 ODI.

Chief Secretary S K Choudhary, Home Secretary J B Tubid and DGP G S Rath were among the senior officials present at the meeting.

The structure of the JSCA International Cricket Stadium is not just confined to cricket alone.

"It is not only a stadium for cricket but also it has other facilities. A Tennis Academy is already there. A swimming pool will come up and so also other sports would be developed. That is why it has been named as JSCA International Cricket Complex," JSCA President Amitabh Choudhary said.

The Rs 180 crore state-of-the-art stadium has a sitting capacity between 39,000 and 40,000 people, besides having all the modern facilities for players, officials, umpires and the media.

The structural design of the complex has been divided into eight parts----- two pavilions (North and South), four wings or stands and two hills.

There are four blocks or stands named as A Wing, B Wing, C Wing and D Wing. There are two hills, Eastern and Western.

The Eastern hill is situated between A and B wings and the Western Hill between C and D Wings.

Spectators sitting at any side of the stadium could view the game without obstructions as there are no pillars and columns.

There are other accommodations which are named as Premium Level, Corporate Box, Hospitality Box, Corporate Lounge and Dressing Room.

On the side of Northern Pavilion there are facilities for umpires, scorers, ICC match referee, match observer, anti-corruption unit and anti-doping unit.

The Security Committee is headed by Inspector General of Police R K Malik.

The last time ODI held in Jharkhand was at the Jamshedpurs Keenan Stadium on April 12, 2006. But Ranchi is hosting an international match for the first time.