Heads roll as BCCI acts tough

It didn't take long for heads to roll after Sunday's match was abandoned. The BCCI took the lead by disbanding its Grounds and Pitches Committee, headed by Daljit Singh, reports Subhash Rajta.

It didn't take long for heads to roll after Sunday's match was abandoned. The BCCI took the lead by disbanding its Grounds and Pitches Committee, headed by Daljit Singh.

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Taking a cue, the DDCA's pitch panel, comprising Chetan Chauhan (chairman) Sunil Dev (convenor) and Vijay Bahadur Mishra (curator) all resigned by late evening. It's a different matter that all of them will still continue to be part of the DDCA in different capacities.

Vibhakar Shashtri, the government nominee to the DDCA, however, said that a two-member panel would look into the fiasco.

“If the DDCA does not take any step then I will force them to,” said Shastri.

The DDCA, earlier in the day, though didn't look keen on this. All the association came up with, after such a major fracas was an apology to the public, a promise to refund the ticket costs, and to look into the matter 'seriously' and take appropriate action so that such incidents do not happen in future.

Chauhan initially tried to wash his hands of any responsibility. “My role is only of supervision and everything was done on the advice of the BCCI pitch committee. We did not have much role to play in laying of the track. We have just used our staff,” said Chauhan.

Former players did not buy this explanation and slammed the DDCA. “I wonder how this pitch, on which a single Ranji match was not played, is being used for international matches. It’s time to take strict action against the DDCA. The pitch was criticised during the Champions League and the India-Australia ODI, but still no remedial step was taken,” said former India captain Bishen Singh Bedi.

Former Sri Lanka cricketer Russel Arnold went a step further, saying a ban will be ideal way to set example.