DDCA apologizes to fans

Shirajiv Sirimane in India

Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) apologized to fans and spectators and offered a refund of the cost of tickets after the fifth and final one day match was abandoned at the Kotla ground due to the dangerous condition of the pitch on Sunday. The Board of Control for Cricket in India reacted by disbanding its Grounds and Pitches Committee.

However the damage that caused from this episode could be far reaching as there is a strong possibility that Delhi which is to host four matches of the next World cup may be deprived of that opportunity.

The possible punishments for a ‘mistake’ of this nature range from a warning to the possible suspension of the venue for international matches for one or two years.

The DDCA refused to comment on the possibility of losing World Cup matches. “I don’t want to comment on something which is in the realm of speculation,” said DDCA president Arun Jaitley.

Former Indian Cricket Board chief and Federal Minister Sharad Pawar has described the incident as a ‘national embarrassment’.

Some leading Indian newspapers today were very harsh on the issue as some of them had headlines such as ‘Capital Shame’ (The Indian Express) ‘ODI Abandoned, Delhi shamed’ (The Times of India).

“What is particularly troubling about the entire affair is that the world’s richest Cricket Board cannot ensure the basic playing conditions needed to stage an international match,” the newspapers added. “What happened in Kotla would be unthinkable in any major venue in other cricket-playing nations”.

With 23.3 overs bowled and Sri Lanka on 83 for 5 wildly varying bounce made life a nightmare for the batsmen and Captain Kumar Sangakkara, called his players, Thilina Kandamby and Muthumudalige Pushpakumara off the field and the match was finally ended after a meeting with both teams and the match officials. Before abandoning the match, an idea was brought in to shift the match to a secondary pitch. However, it was not impractical as the secondary pitch was not adequately prepared. Angry spectators, who had filled the 45,000-seater stadium to near capacity, hurled water bottles and chair covers from the stands in protest and riot police too had to be deployed.

This was only the second time a match was abandoned because of a dangerous pitch; the first being on December 25, 1997, in Indore, against Sri Lanka at the Nehru Stadium. There was only 5 overs play possible. The venue was abandoned for two years.

Delhi