Bengal had to play on the same pitch, it's Odisha's complaint to lodge says Sourav Ganguly
Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) is disappointed with the pitch at Kalyani ground but Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President Sourav Ganguly feels otherwise. The former Indian skipper has said that Bengal played on the same pitch and did not face any problem.
Ganguly told a leading Bengali daily, “Our pacers, spinners and batsmen played on the same pitch. They haven’t faced any problem. I wasn’t there at the ground. So I’m not aware what difficulties Odisha had. It is their (Odisha’s) decision to lodge a complaint.”
Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) secretary Ashirwad Behera said that they have submitted a complaint to the match referee against the pitch. He told ESPNcricinfo, “You can't play a first-class match on such a wicket. Our team manager has already submitted a written complaint to the match referee when Bengal were batting as some of their players were injured (due to the uneven nature of the pitch).”
OCA has plans of taking this issue to Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI). “We are also going to write to the BCCI grounds and pitch committee head Daljit Singh. It is the first time a match has happened at Kalyani and to have such an underprepared pitch, I felt very bad,” Behera added. Shakti Singh, the referee for this match confirmed that he has received a complaint from OCA and BCCI will take a decision on this.
Odisha skipper Natraj Behera has termed the pitch as ‘unplayable’ and pointed out that not only their players but Bengal players were also injured. The visiting team’s skipper said, “Yesterday, it was literally unplayable and today when two Bengal batsmen (Sudeep Chatterjee and Aamir Gani) were hit on the helmet grill off deliveries that bounced awkwardly, a fear factor set in our boys. Our guy (Anurag Sarangi) was also hit on the grill. The boys were afraid to play on the front-foot.”
However, Bengal coach and former cricketer Sairaj Bahutule has a different opinion regarding the issue. He said, “This was a pitch where application was the key. We applied better than them. There has been far worse pitches that I can recall from my playing days. There is no point complaining about the strip.”
Curator Sujan Mukherjee had kept Kalyani pitch dry in order to make it a result-oriented pitch but the outcome was different as top layer eroded with time. Bengal’s Ashok Dinda with a bowling figure of 7/19 played the key role in his team’s 133 runs win. In their second innings Odisha was all out for 37 runs, their second lowest total at the Ranji Trophy.