Feroz Shah Kotla pitch debacle shames India

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What a debacle - India's great capital city, the world famed New Delhi, now has an international venue condemned unfit to stage any World Cup games in 2011. And the rest of the cricket world is sniggering.


It serves them right, too after the final game of Sri Lanka's tour of India at Feroz Shah Kotla ended in chaos, abandoned into the 24th over of an innings fraught with problems for the batsmen being hit by vicious deliveries that created an obvious danger to life and limb with the touring team's score 83 for five wickets.
And those on the Delhi District Cricket Association headed by a politician, now stand accused of allowing such a fiasco to happen.



If they have a conscience all DDCA members would resign with immediate effect. Hanging signs around their necks about their roles in this shameful act of discourteous behaviour to a visiting team and the paying public wouldn't go amiss either, but that won't happen in the aftermath of what has been a disastrous advertisement for Indian cricket at a time they don't need it. And with the way the city is dallying way behind schedule preparing venues for the Commonwealth Games next year, it adds to the developing image of what has become an international joke.

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Also read:

• Kotla faces international ban after pitch fiasco
• Inquiry committee to probe Kotla fiasco
• Srinath, Atapattu clash over Kotla pitch
• Kotla pitch left Gavaskar confused
• Crowd erupts in anger at the Kotla
• Mismanagement reigns supreme at Kotla
• Match abandoned due to poor pitch at Kotla

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You can bet that had Australia, England or South Africa been involved in this game they would have walked off the field in disgust and demanded the game's abandonment within the first five overs, pointing an accusing finger at the DDCA hierarchy as being incompetent buffoons. But Sri Lanka, like New Zealand, were trying to play "Mr Nice Guy" by not seeking controversy, they leave that to those in charge of the various state venues to create their own mess.



What a mess it has become as well. And the repercussions are likely to have serious implications, as already indicated with the BCCI disbanding its own pitch committee. This signals a vote of no confidence in the panel which faced a lot of embarrassing questions, headed by Daljeet Singh, assigned by the BCCI to look at the pitches across the country. There will also be queries asked about the venue as fit for the Indian Premier League games

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Tillekaratne Dilshan receives treatment after being struck on the arm. (AP Photo)





Also, the International Cricket Council should carry out an investigation into the concerns over the fitness of this venue and that of Kanpur as well, another eyesore on the face of the game at international level. And here the ICC needs to show some backbone for a change and slap a ban on the two venues as the BCCI had long ignored the ICC request over that pitch debacle during the last South African tour with the game being over in three days and the Daljeet Singh committee being exposed as a sham - like an email spam which rhymes with scam.



Whether the ICC will act on their conditions covering such venues where games are abandoned through faulty pitch preparation is another matter and comes in light of the official ICC statement, released by match referee Alan Hurst, a former Australian fast bowler.


"The decision to abandon the match was taken by myself, in consultation with the on-field umpires Marais Erasmus and Shavir Tarapore, and both captains as it was clear that the pitch had extremely variable bounce and was too dangerous for further play.


"I'd like to commend the on-field umpires and captains for continuing as long as they did in the hope that the pitch may settle down. Unfortunately, this did not happen. Before abandoning the match, consideration was given to shifting the match to a secondary pitch. However, it was deemed impractical as the secondary pitch was not adequately prepared."



Well this is one way of viewing the events for whether Sri Lanka's captain, Kumar Sangakkara was satisfied with the behaviour of the variable bounce from the second over of the innings would have already indicated the problems would become manifest and unlikely to improve. It is surprising too how the South African umpire, Erasmus, a former provincial captain of some experience, allowed the game to go on as long as it did as he has shown himself to be a highly competent umpire not afraid to make decisions.



Those in charge of the DDCA give the impression of slick professional bravado. They in fact come across as a motley crew who cannot even stage a vaudeville act without losing the essential props to make it work. Even their glib apology has a hint of being forced to do so because of protocols and how they try to make the public feel they are partly to blame for having to pay back gate money.

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Tillekaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya wait as the sidescreen is adjusted. (AFP Photo)


In their statement the "DDCA regrets the inconvenience caused to all spectators and others. We offer our apologies to them. All gate tickets will be refunded. A detailed announcement in this regard will be made shortly," DDCA president Arun Jaitley said after the match was abandoned.


"The DDCA takes this matter very seriously. We will look into this matter and do all that is required to ensure that such a situation doesn't reoccur," Jaitley said in a statement.


He couldn't say anything less could he? But saying sorry to those members of the public who no longer have their tickets to claim back their money explains there is a major gap in the DDCA public relations machine and the people they are supposed to serve. The only reason for making the comment "regrets the inconvenience" is because it inconvenienced members of the DDCA from watching a full day's play along with the free perks that go with it - free meals and drinks.


An investigation shows that pitch preparation for this game was supervised by Kotla's new curator Vijay Bahadur Mishra, on November 8, allowing the organisers a good 50 days to get it ready. Whether it was tested or not is not known. This is after the playing square has in recent years been strongly criticised for being slow and low during the Champions League, and also for failing to provide competitive games, as these to were low-scoring affairs. The last ODI, between India and Australia on October 31 lacked the entertainment value needed to attract spectators.

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Kumar Sangakkara along with the Indian team walks off the ground. (AFP Photo)



It has been claimed it was to address this problem that the DDCA to relay some of the square. It begs the question again, unless people have an ******** knowledge of the game, the laws and how pitch conditions play should not be involved in the game at this level.



When Tillakaratne Dilshan was dealt that first sickening blow by a Zaheer Khan delivery in conditions so hazy, it made you wonder why they were actually playing. But, if the umpires are happy, and did not feel the haze added to the danger of batting on such conditions, okay. Or is it? Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene ended the sad and fraught pantomime act waving the players to stop batting.


It was in the tenth over when Ashish Nehra hit Dilshan on the arm with the batsman throwing his bat away, his features wreathed in agony explained just how bad it was. Sure he had been dropped, and it was only Sanath Jayasuriya's vast international experience that saw him play the way he did to reach 31. But the game should have been abandoned when the ball all but broke Dilshan's arm.