India vs West Indies | SCA unhappy over BCCI’s decision to send curator Daljit Singh to Rajkot
BCCI’s decision to send chief curator, Daljit Singh, to Rajkot ahead of the series against West Indies has not gone down well with the Saurashtra Cricket Association even though it is a ‘standard practice’. Ravi Shastri & Co. have asked for bouncy pitches for the two Tests against the West Indies.
The Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) does not seem to be too happy with BCCI’s decision to send chief curator - Daljit Singh to Rajkot for the first Test between India and West Indies. SCA veteran Niranjan Shah was vocal about his disagreement with BCCI’s decision even though it's considered a "standard practice" ahead of Test matches with other countries. Shah’s comments came after Daljit and Vishwajit Padyar arrived at Rajkot to prepare the strip for the first Test which is slated to begin on October 4.
"The local curators were better off doing their job independently but now that BCCI curators are there, they have taken control and will call the shots. The SCA groundstaff will be there to help and as they know more about the local conditions, I hope their valuable inputs are taken into account," Shah told PTI on Monday.
But a veteran curator, who spoke to TOI, did not understand the fuss surrounding the issue from SCA’s perspective.
"I don't know what issue SCA has but BCCI curators helping out the local ground staff and monitoring pitch preparation is a standard practice. It happens all the time including in the Ranji Trophy. So, I fail to understand what the issue is," said the curator.
As per BCCI's mandate, the chief curator does not need any permission from the state association while pitch preparation is on. In addition to that, the local curators are supposed to work under the chief curator of BCCI. Once the ground is given over to the match referee before the toss, the chief curator's job ends.
The Indian team management along with Ravi Shastri and his backroom staff has reportedly asked for bouncy pitches for the two Tests against the West Indies in Rajkot (October 4-8) and Hyderabad (12-16). This is because India will play a long tour of Australia beginning late in November.