T20I: India’s leading curator says cover had holes, ACA says no

Guwahati: Expressing serious concern over the happenings at the ACA Stadium in Barsapara in Guwahati on Sunday night during the rain-hit T20I match between India and Sri Lanka, a senior BCCI-approved curator has pointed towards possible holes in pitch cover as reason behind the abandonment of the much-awaited match.

This comes at a time when Assam Cricket Association (ACA) secretary Devajit Saikia, while addressing media persons on Tuesday, claimed that the pitch cover didn’t have any issues. “We have inquired about this and now, we are very much confirmed that the pitch cover doesn’t have any hole at all,” he said.

Talking exclusively over phone, the veteran curator, on condition of anonymity, told EastMojo that it was always a mandatory exercise to test the covers for any kind of leaks thoroughly before any big game.

“The covers that we have are of the best qualities, no doubt about that. But during a game or during a practice session, if any player runs over the covers with their spikes on it is not at all a big deal to get a hole in the covers because of the spike. Or when there is no game for a long time and the covers are kept folded rodents or insect bites can get holes or when the cover is being moved from one place to another it can get stuck somewhere and get a hole in it. So before a match it is always absolutely necessary to check the covers by pouring water over it to check if it is leaking from somewhere,” the leading curator said.

When asked about what could have possibly gone wrong that evening, he mentioned, “See blaming anyone will be wrong on my behalf. If there was no hole in the cover, how did water seep to the pitch?”

While the world is going crazy over the preparations leading into the match by the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), usage of hair dryers, etc, has taken the social media by storm with people across the globe coming up with various reactions to it.

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“It’s not the first time that something like that has happened. It is a very common practice to dry rain-hit pitch with hair dryers in Ranji matches. International Cricket Council (ICC) says that every possible effort must be made with the use of any available equipment for the purpose of drying the pitch. I think the ground staff has made a tremendous effort trying to dry the pitch. See, rather than making fun or criticising them, you should appreciate their efforts. Only error that happened that day was that water leaked through the covers which was very unfortunate. Other than that people have worked really hard after that. My sympathies are for the crowd and the fans, who waited hours for the match and they are the pillars for the success of the BCCI.”

On questioning whether such an incident would make an impact to ACA’s impression on the national level, the well-respected curator of the country was all praise for the Assam Cricket Association and he mentioned that the ACA has provided BCCI with seven grounds two years ago when the BCCI didn’t have enough grounds for domestic matches.

“They have prepared a world-class stadium at Barsapara. I personally visited the stadium few years ago. The ACA has developed a lot over the years and it is just one unfortunate incident which should not be a dent in the impression of the association,” he added.