Internet Desk: 24 hours before the all important Ranji Trophy Group A clash between Bengal and Mumbai, there is another match being played outside the cricket field. The Mumbai Cricket Association on Monday has lodged an official complaint with BCCI over their decision to reschedule Bengal’s tie against Gujarat. Under the revised fixture the said match which got cancelled due to Delhi smog, will now be played at Vishakhapatnam from November 06-09.
According to MCA, the change in schedule will be unfair for other teams who are trying hard to compete for a place in the knockouts. For the first time in the history of Ranji Trophy, the BCCI was forced to cancel two ties in Delhi due to smog and pollution. The two league matches — the Group A clash between Gujarat and Bengal and the Group C fixture between Hyderabad and Tripura — will now be played from December 15 to 18 in Visakhapatnam and Kolkata respectively.
The board’s technical committee has decided to reschedule the match, which was to be held from November 6 to 9 at the Feroz Shah Kotla. “It has brought to our notice that the Ranji Trophy match between Gujarat and Bengal has been rescheduled on account of unforeseen conditions in Delhi from 5th to 8th November 2016.
The rescheduling of the said match after the completion of all matches gives unfair advantage to the participating teams with respect to their qualification the knockout phase. This would be unfair for the rest of the teams who would have finished all the matches by then,” MCA joint secretary Unmesh Khanvilkar wrote in his letter to BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke.
“We strongly feel that such rescheduling is unfair to the rest of the teams especially in the Ranji Trophy league phase and we hereby lodge a formal protest on the rescheduling of the said match. We would request league to reconsider your decision and oblige.”