Delhi’s chances of holding World Cup matches in jeopardy
The abandonment of the fifth ODI between India and Sri Lanka on December 27 because of unplayable pitch conditions has jeopardized the chances of the Ferozeshah Kotla hosting the four 2011 World Cup matches allotted to it.
Following the match referee Alan Hurst’s description of the Kotla pitch "too dangerous" for play in his statement, an International Cricket Council (ICC) official indicated that there was an enhanced likelihood of a censure or ban stretching up to 12 months for the Kotla.
In that scenario, the matches scheduled here for the 2011 World Cup - South Africa vs West Indies on February 24, Netherlands vs West Indies on February 28, Canada vs Kenya on March 7 and India vs Netherlands on March 9 - may have to be shifted. That would leave Delhi completely out of the biggest cricket carnival to be held here since the 1996 World Cup.
Already, former cricketers are calling for Delhi to be "blacklisted", and now that the unthinkable has happened, the onus is on the ICC to take any step it deems fit.
Though ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat has said "it is too early to comment on the status of the Kotla’s World Cup games, it seems highly unlikely that the venue will get away with a soft reprimand, given the controversy over poor pitches raging here since the T20 Champions League.
Meanwhile, stung by the shocking fiasco, the BCCI immediately disbanded its Grounds and Pitches Committee with immediate effect. "The BCCI has disbanded its Grounds and Pitches Committee with immediate effect," a one-line statement issued by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, who was present at the venue, said.
The decision to disband the five-member committee headed by Daljit Singh followed soon after the final ODI was called off because of a dangerous pitch. Apart from Daljit, other members of the panel are Dhiraj Parsana (west), PR Viswanathan (south), Rajiv Gokhale (central) and Rahul Das (east).
The Delhi and District Cricket Association has decided to form a two-member inquiry committee to look into the fiasco. Vibhakar Shashtri, the government nominee to DDCA, said that he has been told by the association that they would put in place a committee to probe the matter.
