Workers prepare the cricket turf pitch at Berhampur Stadium. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, June 8: Cricket enthusiasts in Berhampur may get a chance to root for their local Orissa Premier League (OPL) team, Berhampur Bhanja Veers, from the next season of the tournament.

The Ganjam District Cricket Association (GDCA) has started constructing a much-awaited turf pitch at the Berhampur stadium.

This year, because of the absence of the turf pitch, the Berhampur Bhanja Veers have been playing their OPL matches in Bhubaneswar as its home ground.

As a result, many cricket fans in the Silk City have been disappointed.

Construction work for the turf pitch has already started about two weeks ago. The GDCA is organising a summer camp for budding cricket players from June 17 to July 2. The turf pitch is expected to be ready before that. It would be of national standards prepared by growing grass on the black cotton soil.

“We are putting in a lot of effort to encourage local talents from Ganjam district,” said GDCA president Ramesh Patra.

Field experts such as Krushna Chandra Maharana, Kailash Chandra Sahani and P. Mohan and other GDCA officers are supervising the construction of the turf pitch.

“After the turf pitch is ready, three well-known cricket coaches of the country, chief coach of Jharkhand Ranji team Satish Kumar, Arif Hussain and M. Anand (both from Tata Steel), would visit Berhampur stadium to coach budding talents of Ganjam district during the 15-day summer coaching camp,” said Patra.

The camp would be conducted for under-16, under-19 and the girls team of the district. “We have had no regular cricket coach since 13 years after Sports Authority of India (SAI) appointed coach Pallab Dasgupta was transferred to Calcutta in 1998. The last coaching camp here was held in 1998. So, young talents are looking forward to the guidance of the three eminent coaches,” Patra said.

Ganjam team had emerged group champions in the under-16 and under-19 categories during the inter-district championship held last year.

“GDCA is initiating steps to organise Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and Ranji Trophy matches at the Berhampur stadium soon,” said Ramani Ranjan Mohanty, GDCA secretary.

After construction of the turf pitch is over, the stadium would be renovated with the latest infrastructure.