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Journalism of Courage
The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s fixtures committee has done it again! For the nth time, the venues of the ongoing Duleep Trophy matches have been shifted. First, it was Bikaner to Gwalior, then it was Meerut to Hyderabad. And, finally, from Jaipur to New Delhi.
But what must worry Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore, who is already in the Capital along with his boys, is the kind of pitch that will be provided at the Karnail Singh Stadium for the March 1-4 match against Central Zone. For the past two days, the Railway officers have been playing a friendly game at the venue and the groundsmen were struggling to give a ‘match-fit’ wicket for the match beginning on Tuesday.
What puzzles all concerned is that everyone had known about the change of venue and yet the the Railways preferred to go ahead with their match a couple of days before the Duleep game. This has virtually left the groundsmen with no time to prepare a wicket that would last for a four-day match. ‘‘We have very little time at hand to prepare a four-day wicket. We’re doing our best,’’ said one of them.
However, Whatmore said his boys were prepared to play on any wicket. ‘‘As far as I am concerned, my team will play on any wicket.’’ Going back to the issue of the latest change in venue, apparently all the parties involved have been intimated beforehand but nobody knows the reasons for the shift. Said Whatmore: ‘‘During our game in Nagpur (Feb 22-25), BCCI had informed us that we would be playing our next game either in Delhi or Meerut.’’
BCCI secretary SK Nair told The Indian Express that it was due to some ‘‘technical and infrastructural problems,” but joint secretary Gautam Dasgupta admitted that the shift was because of the situation in Rajasthan cricket. ‘‘With elections to RCA scheduled, we weren’t sure so we had to shift the game out.’’
BCCI treasurer and Central Zone convenor Jyoti Bajpai conceded the point, said: ‘‘With top players involved, we wanted the match to be hosted in an established centre.’’
Rajasthan Cricket Association secretary Subhash Joshi said that RCA has strongly protested against the change. Refuting allegations, he said, ‘‘it was our right to host and it’s been snatched away from us. The new committee was never given a chance.’’
But Joshi did agree that the recent shake-up in RCA and the ad-hoc committee has cost his association the match. ‘‘Three days ago, we have lodged a protest to the Board and are awaiting a response,’’ he said.
Setback for Bangladesh team
Bangladesh Cricket Board XI suffered a major blow ahead of their Duleep Trophy clash against Central Zone when Rajin Saleh was ruled out due to symptoms of measles. He will be flying back home on Monday. ‘‘He had developed rashes and after the incubation period, the itching has gone,’’ Dav Whatmore said after the team’s practice session on Sunday. ‘‘But we want him to go home and rest.’’
Meanwhile, Central Zone selectors today named Railway’s JP Yadav to lead the team in place of Mohammad Kaif, who will lead the Board President’s XI against the visiting Pakistan team at Dharamshala from March 3.
