MSLTA pulling out all stops to prepare grass court for Davis Cup tie

Mumbai, Mar 11 (UNI) Work is on in full steam to ready the Brabourne stadium which will host next month's Davis Cup zonal play-off encounter between India and Pakistan, organising committee chairman Bharat Oza today said.

Talking to reporters here, Mr Oza said Mumbai would be hosting a Davis Cup tie after a gap of 36 years and it is a joint effort by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association and its parent body, the All India Tennis Federation.

He also informed that France's Stephane Cretois would be the referee for the tie which would be played on a specially prepared grass court at the Cricket Club of India here from April 7 to 9.

Australia's John Blom would be the neutral umpire and India's Punit Gupta would be the other chair umpire, Oza added.

The North Stand of the Brabourne stadium would be open for the paying spectators, he said, adding that India and Pakistan would be clashing after a gap of 33 years. Till now India has met Pakistan on four occasions and emreged successful in all of them.

Speaking about expenditure, Mr Oza said ''We would be spending close to half a crore, but the strict Cup rules introduced by the International Tennis Federation would permit us to display our sponsors' logos only in the hospitality tents and not inside the arena,'' he added.

Two officials from the AITF have already arrived in Mumbai to oversee the work and check that the preparations are done in line with the rules laid down by the ITF for the tournament, he said.

He also said that a groundsman, Kartik Dey, from Kolkata who has been preparing grass courts there for the past many years has also been brought to Mumbai and he has been entrusted with the job of preparing the court.

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