Please Don't Turn Yamuna Sports Complex Into Cricket Ground, Says Archer Deepika Kumari

Olympic bound archer Deepika Kumari raised concerns over a tweet by East Delhi BJP MP Gautham Gambhir to host the Pro cricket tournament in Yamuna sports ground which was used for archery during the 2010 Commonwealth games. “Ads can’t substitute for intent and hardwork,” he tweeted.

“I became Deepika in this ground in 2010 Commonwealth Games. Please do not turn this archery ground into a cricket ground. This is the one of the best archery grounds in Asia. International Archery tournaments can happen here," she tweeted.

Yamuna Sports Complex witnessed Deepika Kumari's rise to stardom when she bagged two golds in both team and individual events. She finished first in the podium, defeating Englands’s Alison Williamson and teammate Dola Banerjee. In the team event, the Indian team of Dola Banerjee, Deepika Kumari and Bombayla Devi Laishram overpowered the English team in the final.

Reacting to the tweet, Gautam Gambhir said that the ground was not to be converted, but upgraded. “Being a sportsman myself, will never let anything hamper the growth of any sportsman!" he tweeted.

The discourse received mixed reactions from netizens. While some questioned the move to upgrade a “prominent sports complex” into a cricket ground, others said stadiums across the world should be multi-sports.