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Suspended match: Karnail Singh Pitch deemed "unfit and dangerous" by match officials
The Ranji Trophy match, which was to be held in Delhi's Karnail Singh Stadium, was stopped as 24 wickets were dismissed in just 103 overs due to the poor condition of the pitch. When the officials called off the game, Punjab was 4 down for 18 after 4 overs. The reports suggested that the Punjab team refused to bat due to the unstable condition of the pitch.
The matter was discussed with the Punjab and Railway captains, Mandeep Singh and Karn Sharma, as well as the umpires, Rajeev Godara and K Madanagopal, and the referee, Youraj Singh. The pitch produced an uneven bounce, which resulted in numerous batsmen getting hit on their bodies, leading to a dangerous playing environment. In 2009, a similar problem occurred when the ODI between India and Sri Lanka was abandoned due to an erratic pitch. The railways were dissatisfied with the decision.
The stadium has been in trouble since 2012, due to which it was banned from hosting matches for a period of two years. As the elite group, D Sport, has shrunk to a two-day event, the result would have a negative effect on both teams within the match. Punjab's first match in opposition with Chandigarh resulted in a tie due to dangerous lighting forcing an early finish of the match, while the Railways got defeated by Vidarba by 194 runs.
The match is expected to be held again on
Thursday, December 22, on a fresh pitch, and the Railways are expected to pitch
longer than the Punjab team in order to increase their chances of victory.
Earlier, the pitch had been in the headlines and was on a watchlist by BCCI's
technical committee for reportedly substandard maintenance of the pitch. The
two day game will unlikely increase the chances of both teams winning the
tournament due to the short time span of the match.
