NEW DELHI: The first Test between Australia and South Africa at Gabba’s green ground saw the result in two days with 19 wickets dropped on Day 2 and 15 on Day 1.
The almost similar action took place in the Ranji Trophy Wednesday as the match between Railways and Punjab at Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi was suspended after the track was deemed “unsafe and unfit for play” by match officials.
The match will now be played on a new surface on Thursday.
As many as 24 wickets fell in just 103 overs with fast bowlers accounting for 20 of them when play was stopped by match officials. Punjab were 18-for-4 in their second down after taking a 12-run lead in the first set.
“I have never seen a wicket like that in Ranji before. The rebound was too unpredictable which made the pitch very dangerous. What we were told was that the match will be played on a new pitch,” said the Punjab batter. Abishek Sharma said PTI.
“The referees and match referee made the right decision to give up the game today and start again tomorrow. The players put a lot of effort into preparing for this game, so disappointed to see a wicket like this one.”
The decision was made during the coffee break of the second session when on-field referees K Madanagopal and Rajeev Godara discussed the matter with match referee Youraj Singh and also had a word with the two captains – Mandeep Singh from Punjab and Karn Sharma from Railways.
With the Elite Group D match reduced to a two-day affair, a result is highly unlikely which could affect both Railways and Punjab’s chances in the tournament.
Punjab’s opener had ended in a draw after bad light ended their fight against Chandigarh prematurely, while Railways lost to Vidarbha by 194 points.
Also in the past, the tracks at Karnail Singh Stadium had grabbed the headlines for the wrong reasons, with the BCCI technical committee placing the venue on a watchlist for producing poor pitches in 2011.
A year later, the site was banned for two years from hosting games after the committee discovered local curators had deliberately under-prepared the ticket office to help the railways, forcing the team to relocate its port home base in Bhubaneswar.
(With PTI inputs)
The almost similar action took place in the Ranji Trophy Wednesday as the match between Railways and Punjab at Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi was suspended after the track was deemed “unsafe and unfit for play” by match officials.
The match will now be played on a new surface on Thursday.
As many as 24 wickets fell in just 103 overs with fast bowlers accounting for 20 of them when play was stopped by match officials. Punjab were 18-for-4 in their second down after taking a 12-run lead in the first set.
“I have never seen a wicket like that in Ranji before. The rebound was too unpredictable which made the pitch very dangerous. What we were told was that the match will be played on a new pitch,” said the Punjab batter. Abishek Sharma said PTI.
“The referees and match referee made the right decision to give up the game today and start again tomorrow. The players put a lot of effort into preparing for this game, so disappointed to see a wicket like this one.”
The decision was made during the coffee break of the second session when on-field referees K Madanagopal and Rajeev Godara discussed the matter with match referee Youraj Singh and also had a word with the two captains – Mandeep Singh from Punjab and Karn Sharma from Railways.
With the Elite Group D match reduced to a two-day affair, a result is highly unlikely which could affect both Railways and Punjab’s chances in the tournament.
Punjab’s opener had ended in a draw after bad light ended their fight against Chandigarh prematurely, while Railways lost to Vidarbha by 194 points.
Also in the past, the tracks at Karnail Singh Stadium had grabbed the headlines for the wrong reasons, with the BCCI technical committee placing the venue on a watchlist for producing poor pitches in 2011.
A year later, the site was banned for two years from hosting games after the committee discovered local curators had deliberately under-prepared the ticket office to help the railways, forcing the team to relocate its port home base in Bhubaneswar.
(With PTI inputs)
