Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium will be hosting three cricket matches as part of the highly-anticipated World Cup 2023 tournament. However, the stadium’s management Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has yet again come under severe criticism for its alleged poor management. Photos of the stadium’s seats being covered in dust and bird droppings have gone viral, leading to backlash against the management which is hosting a few games of the prestigious International tournament. 

Cricket analyst and commentator C Venkatesh who attended the Pakistan vs Australia match on Tuesday, October 3, shared photos of the poor conditions of the seats from the venue on social media platform X, expressing his disappointment. 

It should be noted that this is not the first time that the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium has been accused of poor maintenance and following basic cleanliness. There were similar complaints against the management during the IPL matches earlier this year.  

After the images went viral, Venkatesh clarified that the untidy seats were restricted to the Western terrace stands, whereas the rest of the stadium was maintained well.

“My tweets on bad condition of seats in some stands of the Uppal Stadium have gone viral. Some people outside the country r trying to take advantage. I wud like to clarify that the stadium has been renovated with brand new seats & only Western Terrace stands old seats are bad.” “HCA, it seems, didn’t have enough time to replace all the chairs before the World Cup. Bt they shud hv got the old chairs cleaned up before the match. The rest of the facilities in the stadium are excellent and no one should have any doubts about hosting capacities of India.” (sic), Venkatesh said. 

On Friday, the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium will be the venue for the  cricket match between New Zealand and Pakistan. The stadium will be also hosting the 

New Zealand vs Netherlands match on October 9, and Pakistan vs Sri Lanka match on October 12.