As soon as you hear the name ‘Green Park Stadium,’ you might imagine a stadium covered in lush greenery. But upon visiting this cricket stadium in Kanpur, it won’t quite match that image. At first glance, many might even say the stadium is ‘Green’ only in name, not in nature. From the outside, the gray walls and broken gates bear no resemblance to its name. Once inside, it’s hard to distinguish the press box from the stands in this 30-35 thousand-seater stadium.
In fact, it’s more fitting to call it a stand rather than a press box. An attempt has been made to give it a press box feel by placing some dilapidated tables. However, from this press box, you’ll get a complete sense of the atmosphere on the field. Journalists will certainly feel how difficult it is for the players to cope with Kanpur’s intense heat. That’s because there are no glass walls in the press box, and air conditioning is out of the question. Two days before the start of the Test, there wasn’t even a fan in sight. The stands are old and have not been modernized.
Indian journalist Pratyush Raj, who came from Delhi, seemed quite annoyed by what he saw. Pointing toward the stands from the press box, he said, “Look at that side. If Pant hits a six, it feels like the crowd dancing would make the stands collapse. It still seems stuck in the British era. Why hold a Test here? Let it happen in the South. The crowd comes, and it looks better too.”
Pratyush isn’t wrong. This ground in Kanpur, a city in Uttar Pradesh, is one of India’s older stadiums. However, it hasn’t become as modern as Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, or Nagpur. Built in 1945, before India’s independence, this ground was used by the British for horse racing. It was even named after an English woman, ‘Madam Green.’ She supposedly used to come here every morning to prepare for horse racing. Although the stadium has undergone several renovations, the rusty atmosphere has lingered. There’s a reason for that. Green Park is the only stadium in India that, in a sense, has no real caretaker. Every Test venue in India is controlled by some association. But the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association isn’t particularly concerned about Green Park. Although ‘Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association’ is written prominently next to the dressing rooms of both teams, the stadium is actually the property of the Uttar Pradesh Sports Department.
Green Park is the only stadium in India that doesn’t have a direct caretaker. The home ground of the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association is in Lucknow, with a shiny new stadium named Ekana Cricket Stadium, which has a capacity of 50,000 spectators. It’s also the home ground of the Uttar Pradesh IPL team, Lucknow Super Giants. To the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association, Green Park is like a museum, a part of history and tradition. Every three or four years, a Test match is assigned to Green Park, largely due to its historical significance.
The last Test match here was in 2021, while the first one was held in 1952. At that time, Green Park was referred to as ‘Modi Stadium,’ named after Sir H. P. Modi, the first Governor of Uttar Pradesh. This stadium also once had the world’s largest manual scoreboard. In 2015, it was torn down, and a new scoreboard is currently being installed at the same spot. Next to it is the ‘Student Gallery,’ designated for students to watch the game, making Green Park the only stadium in India with a specific gallery for students. Among the many negative things said about Green Park, this is perhaps its only positive feature.
