Sabotage, cries Dalmiya

CALCUTTA, May 25: Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, hinted that a sabotage' was the cause behind the c...

CALCUTTA, May 25: Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, hinted that a sabotage8217; was the cause behind the crowd trouble at the Eden Gardens during the World Cup semi-final last year. The scarcity of drinking water, which had been cited as the cause behind frayed tempers, was due to overflowing of water at the adjacent Mohun Bagan ground.

Eden Gardens and the three enclosed grounds of the Maidan Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting 8212; share a common source of water supply.

Normally, when there is a match at the Eden Gardens, the three grounds keep their water taps shut. However, on March 13 last year, the day of the semi-final, all the taps of the Mohun Bagan ground were running from morning till the night. This overflow resulted in shortage of water at the Eden Gardens.

8220;I don8217;t know whether it was intentional or accidental, but that was the cause behind water-crisis here,8221; said Dalmiya.

On that eventful day, a section of the one lakh-odd spectators, most of whom had to go thirsty towards the later part of the match, had vented their ire on the match, forcing match referee Clive Lloyd to call it off.

The knowledge that India were certain to finish on the losing side further fuelled their anger, which they released in the form of plastic bottle missiles. As carrying water containers inside the stadium was being regulated for security reasons, the shortage of water led to a greater amount of resentment.

After discovering the cause behind the water-shortage, the enquiry committee had suggested cutting off water supply to the three enclosed grounds whenever a match was in progress at the Eden Gardens. This proved successful during the India-South Africa Test match as drinking water was there in adequate amount. For the Independence Cup matches too, water supply to the three grounds are being cut off to allow exclusive use of the water for Eden Gardens.

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Although Dalmiya quoted PWD as well Police reports in saying that both were satisfied, some police officials feel it is not adequate in certain blocks.But Dalmiya assured that drinking water will not be the reason behind crowd trouble this time.

Meanwhile, Pakistan are yet to ask for replacements for their injured players Inzama-ul Haq and A Razzaq, Dalmiya informed. He added that according to the tournament rules any team can have replacements till the last minute.