Chief curator and CEO responsible for embarrassment in Guwahati T20I: BCCI

The T20I opener between India and Sri Lanka didn’t get off to an electrifying start at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium as rain played spoilsport to enforce a delayed start of the intriguing fixture. It also rained after India won the toss and opted to field. There were wet patches on the pitch and around the bowler’s runup. The Barsapara ground staff worked beyond the call of duty to make the ground dry. However, after three inspections by the umpires and the match officials, the match was abandoned.

The Barsapara ground staff were spotted using hair-dryers, steam irons, vacuum cleaners which led to an embarrassing situation for the richest cricket board in the world as the videos of the same spread like wildfire on social media. Even the commentators on the air labelled it ‘absolutely disheartening’ to see that an international stadium in the country didn’t have the means to tackle such an issue.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India could have easily prevented the embarrassment had they spent a little amount of money. It should be noted that the cost of the best quality covers for covering the pitch would have cost only INR 50000. Since covers were not there, the ground staff used a sub-standard quality plastic which eventually led to rainwater seeping into the pitch and BCCI was on the receiving end of trolls on all social media platforms for its negligence.

A lot of blame lies with BCCI’s curator and CEO: BCCI official

A top BCCI official on the condition of anonymity was not at all pleased with the new state association officials’ lack of experience. He also pointed out that there was a lack of preparedness of chief curator Ashish Bhowmick and BCCI CEO Rahul Johri. He also echoed that no state association had the chance to address the concern.

“These things will happen as there is a learning curve that officials of all associations are faced with after the implementation of the Lodha reforms. No association had the opportunity to plan for succession and continuity,” the official was quoted as saying by IndiaToday.

“In this day and age continuity strategies remain one of the biggest concerns for stakeholders across the globe. The associations were never given the opportunity to address this concern. I think a lot of blame lies with the BCCIs curator and ultimately with the CEO who should at least had the foresight to ensure the basics were in place,” he added in a statement.

According to the meteorological department, there is no prediction of rain in Indore’s Holkar Cricket Stadium which will be played on Tuesday, January 7.

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