TU Ground's Old Drainage Leaves NPL Matches Waterlogged

Saturday's washout at Kirtipur was not just bad weather. The TU Ground's drainage predates the Nepal Premier League, its new stands send more water into the ground, and the venue sits on low land that collects rain from the rest of the university.

Saturday's Washout Exposes the Drainage Problem

Saturday's first match never started. Lumbini Lions and Chitwan Rhinos were due to meet at 12:30 PM at the TU Ground in Kirtipur, but persistent rain had already left the outfield waterlogged, and officials called the game off without even holding the toss. The two sides shared one point each.

The second match of the day, between Biratnagar Kings and Sudurpaschim Royals at 5 PM, was also unlikely to go ahead, with a cut-off time of 7:41 PM. At the time of writing, no official decision had been announced on that match. After more than 30 hours of rain, water stood pooled on the field despite the covers, and the covers could not be removed to start pitch preparation while rain was still falling.

Water flowing in from the direction of the parapet had also collected outside the ground. That separates this washout from an ordinary delay: a delay ends when the rain stops, but surrounding water can keep the outfield unfit long after the sky clears.

New Stands, Old Drains

Last year's upgrade added stands for 10,000 people, but only around half of the ground so far. A second phase would add another 15,000 seats under a master plan estimated at around Rs 10 billion. Until the government implements that plan, the venue is effectively half new and half old.

The drainage system was built before the first NPL edition; the ground served as the university's internal sports ground until 1999 BS.

Two features of the site make the old drainage worse. The stadium sits on lower ground within the university premises, so rainwater from other parts of the university flows towards it, and water from the newly built stands has increased the volume entering the ground. Chakrabarti Kantha, a former joint secretary at the Department of Urban Development, said water from the stands may have entered the ground because the master plan has not been implemented. “A high-capacity drainage system needs to be built around the ground to drain all the accumulated water quickly. This will only be possible after the master plan is implemented,” said Kantha. In his account, the problems come from half of the new structure being used alongside the old infrastructure.

The uncomfortable conclusion is that the upgrade raised what the ground can hold without raising what it can drain. More stands mean more water channelled into the same old system, on the lowest patch of land in the area. Until the drainage matches the stands, every long wet spell carries the same risk.

CAN Officials on the Waterlogged Ground

Cricket Association of Nepal vice-president Roshan Singh said both the ground and its surrounding areas had been inundated. Tarpaulins covered the ground and pitch, but water accumulating from the surrounding areas made it difficult to hold matches even if the rainfall stopped. On his assessment, matches scheduled for Saturday and Sunday were likely to be affected.

Dhirendra Saud, a CAN board member and the NPL tournament director, said rainfall had exceeded expectations and the drainage channels around the ground were also full. “If the rain stops, the ground can be prepared for a match within an hour,” said Saud. The two assessments describe the same trap: the surface is quick to prepare, but only once the surrounding water has somewhere to go.

CAN secretary Paras Khadka was blunter. “It is a technical matter, and it is not yet certain exactly what will happen. But the chances of the matches taking place are low,” Khadka said. With no reserve days, a fixture lost to waterlogging is not replayed, it is shared.

Sunday's Fixture and the Wider Cost

The next test comes quickly. The Janakpur Bolts face the Pokhara Avengers in Match 9 on Sunday, November 1, at 5 PM, the clearest measure of whether the ground can recover in a day. The Karnali Yaks sit top of the points table on four points, the Kathmandu Gorkhas are still searching for their first win, and the full schedule leaves no room for a postponed game to be squeezed back in.

The cost of a washout weekend goes beyond two afternoons of cricket. Shared points flatten the early table: Lumbini and Chitwan both arrived on Saturday with a win behind them and left with a point they did not play for, while Biratnagar, still without a win from two matches, faced a third fixture disappearing before they could chase a first victory. Reports say ticketing partner eSewa refunds tickets when a match is called off before the toss.

Saturday's story is therefore bigger than one abandoned match, covered in the report on Match 7 being abandoned without a toss. The rain exposed a venue whose ambition has outrun its plumbing: covers and a one-hour preparation window are enough for a shower, not for a ground that collects its neighbourhood's rain through drains built before its league existed. The fix is known and planned — the master plan and high-capacity drainage. Until that work is done, the TU Ground will remain Nepal's showpiece venue and, in a wet week, its most fragile one.