Ranji Trophy: Ill-equipped ground leaves Karnataka fuming

"Match start hoga kya?” This was the standard question from a goodly crowd at the Gandhi Memorial Science College here on Friday. Despite bright sunshine throughout the day, not a single ball was bowled and cricket aficionados on a Shivaratri holiday were obviously frustrated. And that summed up the tale.

After two days of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal between Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir, only six overs of play has been possible. Bad light forced the match to begin after tea on the opening day. Karnataka, opting to bat first, had reached 14/2 when play was called off after the same problem resurfaced.

Heavy overnight rain delayed proceedings on Friday. Even as the day got brighter, a couple of patches near the bowlers’ mark at the River End stopped the umpires from giving the green signal. Following multiple inspections, the second day too met with a disappointing end.

While it was heartening to see the continuous toil the ground staff put in, the limited facilities at the venue were all too glaring. Good weather notwithstanding, the poor drainage system at the ground proved to be an issue. Given that it's the quarterfinal of the National championship, it’s only fair to ask if this was the right venue for the contest.

It will be a travesty if Karnataka end up not advancing to the semifinal in case both teams fail to complete an innings. In such a scenario, according to the qualification rule, the team with most outright wins in the Group stage will progress. J&K, who topped Group C, registered six wins whereas Karnataka managed four from Group B. The former champions' grouse was only justified.

“It’s a vague rule. J&K played in Group C which has one team extra than in Group B. We had raised this issue during the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Number of outright wins isn’t the right way to decide (qualifiers from knockouts),” Santosh Menon, Karnataka Cricket Association secretary, told DH.

Ahead of the match, the KSCA had requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to shift the game to Bengaluru. In case of a similar crisis in Bengaluru, the SubAir system at the M Chinnaswamy stadium would have provided a quick remedy.

“We had told the BCCI that we are ready to host the match. They contemplated having the game in Bengaluru. There were a few deliberations,” Menon explained.

“Definitely it’s frustrating (with how things stand now). We had told the J&K team that it will be an opportunity for their players to be seen on TV because the BCCI was thinking of showing the game live,” Menon added.

The overall facilities at the ground leave a lot to be desired. The tiny dressing rooms meant that players from both the teams had no place to sit. Players and match officials were made to sit under tents. The strong breeze throughout the opening day threatened to bring the down the temporary structure.

“We were very apprehensive about the facilities there. We were aware of the limitations. The BCCI should have taken a call,” Menon said.

With the game now reduced to a three-day affair, the onus is on Karnataka to make a match out of this contest.

Defending the board’s decision to host the game in Jammu, Saba Karim, BCCI’s general manager of cricket, said: “The onus is on the host association to conduct a match smoothly. Barring the venues which host international matches, most others don’t have a structured drainage system, yet we have conducted first-class matches at those venues without any issues.”

A Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association's top official said the hosts have tried their best to handle the situation. “When there is a lot of rain, like there was last night, it is difficult to dry some areas of the ground because huge trees around the ground block the sunlight. The infrastructure we have is temporary. We have limited equipment here. We had started a tender process for more ground machinery but that got delayed because of the blockade. That machinery is on its way now from Mumbai,” he said.