CAB sends letter requesting the BCCI to stick with its earlier decision
Internet Desk: In the wake of the objection of Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to review its earlier decision to reschedule the Ranji Trophy matches.
The senior tournament committee of the BCCI is all set to reverse the earlier decision of rescheduling the two games.
The Cricket Association of Bengal in a letter sent to BCCI has requested to stick to their earlier decision. In a letter signed by the secretary Avishek Dalmia, CAB has requested the board to consider rescheduling its match against Gujarat.
According to Subir Ganguly, joint secretary of the association, “The decision to reschedule the matches was taken by the umpires and match referee. It was reported everywhere that due to severe pollution it was not suitable for the match to take place. It was an extraordinary circumstance due to which the match was cancelled.”
Countering the move of the TNCA and the MCA, CAB Joint Secretary Avishek Dalmiya wrote to BCCI President Anurag Thakur stating it is humbly submitted that the decision adopted by the BCCI (to play the match between December 15-18) for rescheduling the match is correct and appropriate. The same is also beyond the scope of any review both in factual as well as constitutional powers.
Requesting that the decision take by the BCCI based on supervening extraordinary unavoidable dangerous condition be not reviewed, Dalmiya said otherwise the same would be not merely unfair but also contrary to regulatory provisions of the BCCI and the principles of natural justice.
Clause 3.5.3 of the Playing Conditions for Multi-day Matches (Men) expressly stipulates amongst others, that if the situation is so bad that there is obvious and foreseeable risk to safety of player and would be unreasonable or dangerous for play to take place warranting immediate suspension/abandonment, the Umpires in consultation with the Match Referee may not allow the play to commence, the letter further read.
If the match is not rescheduled then both teams –Bengal and Gujarat will get one points each. In that case Bengal will end up having 17 points from 8 matches with a match to go against Madhya Pradesh. Manoj Tiwary and his team will definitely have no chance for qualifying the knock out stages even if they manage to win outright against MP. Mumbai, who have already qualified from Group A will be joined by Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
During a meeting of all the BCCI affiliates in New Delhi on Friday, the members discussed the protest letters filed by Mumbai Cricket Association and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, which led to the BCCI deciding to forward the earlier decision to the senior tournament committee. Mumbai Cricket Association President Sharad Pawar has strongly protested the decision in the meeting saying the technical committee has no right to reschedule any matches. It is to be noted that Sourav Ganguly who is the President of CAB is also the chairman of technical committee.
The senior tournament committee includes BCCI vice-president Gautam Roy as chairman, representatives of Haryana, Goa, Odisha, Baroda and Uttar Pradesh cricket associations, and secretary Ajay Shirke as the convener. The date of the meeting is yet to be confirmed but a BCCI source revealed that the members were against the decision to postpone the games.
Owing to a dense smog that had polluted the air in the national capital, the BCCI on November 6, had announced the two games in Delhi scheduled from November 5 — Gujarat versus Bengal and Hyderabad against Tripura — would be replayed at the end of the scheduled league stage.
BCCI rules and convention prescribes that umpires and match referees wait late into the four day evening before calling a match off. For instance, the last Ranji game that was called off without a ball being bowled due to incessant rains in Kolkata — Bengal’s home game versus Baroda in 2013-14 — was eventually cancelled after tea on the fourth day.