KSCA to invite army personnel and school children for India's 2nd Test against Australia

What’s the story?

The Karnataka State Cricket Association will be inviting over 5000 army personnel and over 15000 schoolchildren to watch the 2^nd Test between India and Australia which will be held in Bangalore on March 4^th.

"The Army personnel under the Headquarters of Karnataka and Kerala Sub-Area of Indian Army will be witnessing the match for free in Bangalore,” said Vinay Mruthyanjaya, who is a spokesperson of the KSCA.

"And the Indian Army Soldiers will be in addition to the 15,000 schoolchildren who are being invited for the Test match," he continued.

The context

Australia’s tour of India is currently underway as the two sides are taking on each other in the first Test which is being held at the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium in Pune where the visitors are currently dominating the home side.

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The Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore is the only venue where India has played a Test match in the past. The other three venues – Pune, Ranchi, and Dharamsala are hosting a Test for the first time ever.

The heart of the matter

The Chinnaswamy stadium has a capacity of over 38000, and if we see over 15000 school kids and army personnel come into the stadium to witness the battle between the two sides, we could probably witness a full house in the stadium for all five days of the match.

Parallels from history

We have seen cricket boards of various states employ a similar step to allow underprivileged school kids to witness a Test live in the stadium. We saw a whole lot of school kids in the stadium during the one-off Test between India and Bangladesh which was held at the Rajiv Gandhi international cricket stadium in Hyderabad from February 9th-13th. We also witnessed a lot of school kids in the stands during the India-England Test series.

Sportskeeda’s take

The KSCA has taken a great step to send out an invite to army personnel and school children. The army has put their lives on the line in order to protect the nation, and this is just a small way to reward them for the work they have done. Meanwhile, school children always tend to increase the atmosphere in the stadium and it is a breath of fresh air to watch them support the Indian cricket team. Let’s hope that such initiatives continue to be taken in the future.