The 3000 English fans expected for the first Indian-England Test to be staged at the PCA stadium, Mohali from December 3 to 7, will now be able to buy match tickets at cheaper rates. Inderjit Singh Bindra, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) president, while announcing the slash in ticket rates for the Test in a press conference after the executive committee meeting, said that the visiting fans will now have to pay 50 pounds for a ticket.

The PCA has also slashed the rates of season tickets. For the general block, the rate will be Rs 50 instead of Rs 100. The VIP block tickets will be available at Rs 250 instead of Rs 500 but there will be no change in the rate of VIP AC Lounge (Rs 5000) tickets, he added.

He further said that it has been decided to introduce a VIP family ticket for the first time at Rs 500. It will entitle the entry of the husband and wife along with two children. The student's tickets will be available at Rs 30 instead of Rs 50.

Giant TV Screen for PCA stadium

The PCA are also planning to add a giant TV replay screen, a speed gun, electronically operated side screen, a projection screen for the AC lounge and a mechanical scoreboard to the stadium.

Bindra said that the TV replay screen is estimated to cost Rs 3.50 crore. Global tenders will be invited for purchasing the machine. The speed gun meanwhile will cost the PCA Rs 10 to 12 Lakh.

Meanwhile, a sum of Rs 25 lakh has been earmarked for the purchasing technical equipment, which includes grass cutting machines and pitch covers. The PCA also plans to upgrade its coaching centre for which it will invest Rs 1.50 crores.

Gate management, reception of guests at the airport, the arrangements for media men and catering etc will be handed over to professional agencies. To achieve all this, the PCA plans to raise a loan worth Rs 3 to 4 crore from banks, while raising a similar amount from subsidy the BCCI gives to the state units.

"All arrangements concerning the conduct of the Test match will be done in a professional manner, " Bindra added.

Benefit matches for two former Ranji players

Two Deodhar Trophy matches out of the four allotted to the PCA will now become benefit matches for two former Ranji players Kishan Mohan and Arun Sharma. While Kishan Mohan has been allotted the match between North Zone and West Zone to be played at Amritsar on February 20, Arun Sharma has got the North Zone v East Zone match to be held at Ludhiana on February 22.

Announcing this, M P Pandove, secretary of the PCA said that the venues of the three Ranji Trophy matches to be played in the state this year has been finalised. Punjab v Himachal Pradesh match scheduled to start from November 1 to 4 will be played at Mohali, while the Punjab v Services and Punjab v Delhi matches will be played at Amritsar from November 7 to 10 and November 30 to December 3, respectively.

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