India vs England: BCCI green-signals 50 percent capacity in stands for 2nd Test | Cricket News – Times of India

CHENNAI: The second Test between India and England at MA Chidambaram Stadium –to be played from February 13-17 – is all set to see fans being allowed to enter the stadium and occupy 50% of the seating capacity. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) was given the go-ahead from BCCI on Monday.
The opening Test will still be played behind closed doors, but the Indian and England players can look forward to fans cheering for them at the stadium from the second Test onwards.

“The BCCI has communicated to us that fans can be allowed for the second Test. We are just waiting for official confirmation. The first Test will be played behind closed doors. It was too late to make arrangements for the first Test,” TNCA secretary RS Ramasaamy told TOI on Monday.
The sports ministry’s decision to allow full capacity crowds into stadiums for outdoor events and the Tamil Nadu government’s revised guidelines of permitting 50% crowd entry at stadiums opened the door for the development after it was earlier stated that fans would not be allowed for the first two Tests.
With I, J and K stands getting clearance last year and being open to the public once again, the total capacity at Chepauk stands at around 38,000. According to Ramasaamy, around 12,000-15,000 tickets can be expected to go on sale. Seats in the coveted pavilion and terrace enclosure will remain out of bounds for the public since it is in close proximity to the players’ dressing rooms. “We will not have any seating in the pavilion and terrace stands to ensure that nobody comes close to the players’ area,” Ramasaamy said.

All players test negative
The Indian and England players, meanwhile, have completed their six-day quarantine after returning negative results in three RT-PCR tests conducted over that period. All the Indian players were present at Chepauk on Monday evening and did some stretching and warm-up exercises. They will hit the nets on Tuesday morning for their first full-fledged practice session.
The England team will follow suit by training as a group for the first time on Tuesday afternoon. Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Rory Burns – who had travelled to India a few days earlier than the England team since they were not part of the Sri Lanka series – have already been practising at the MAC ‘B’ nets since Saturday.