Hyderabad tie abandoned due to wet outfield
HYDERABAD: The 30,000-odd spectators at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here cheered enthusiastically expecting a cracker of a contest between India and Australia on Friday. Instead, they were left disappointed with the T20I series decider getting called off due to wet outfield, despite no rain in this part of the city.
The Virat Kohli-led Indian cricket team, thus, shared the T20I series 1-1 with Australia, led by David Warner. This is the second time the Men in Blue shared a T20I series with Australia, with the first occasion being the away series in Australia in the 2011-12 season.
NORAIN
The cancellation will be remembered as a bad advertisement for Hyderabad Cricket Association, which could not get the ground ready despite no rain for a major part of the last two days.
There was one inspection at 7:00 pm by match referee Sir Richie Richardson and the second inspection was at 7:45 pm. Richardson, during his outfield inspection, tapped his feet on those patches and it seemed to go deep.
The match was ultimately called off at 8:15 pm.
The ground was not deemed safe for the players, according to a HCA official. The spectators who bought the tickets will be refunded in due time, he added.
PEDESTAL FANSUSED
After the toss delay on Friday evening, groundsmen could be seen frantically spreading sawdust on wet patches on the outfield. A day before, pedestal fans were used on the same spots to dry those patches in time.
An official who was present at the ground, during the inspection, said some spots on the outfield looked terrible. In fact, during the practice session when Virat Kohli hit a ball and it landed on the wet patch, it did not bounce. The severity of the dampness can be gauged by this.
Though the city has been receiving heavy rain for the past two weeks, Hyderabad Cricket Association officials said that they took every precaution to protect the field of play, adding that the inner circle and pitch did not haveany problem. However, agroundsman,whodidnotwant to be quoted, had said on Thursday that the damp spots on the outfield were quite serious.
The field received bright sun for majority of Thursday as well as Friday, yet it was not enough.
Curator YL Chandrasekhar said they were disappointed with the decision to call off the match. “All our hard work went in vain. We worked day and night to make the ground ready. It’s the decision of the match referee and officials and we can’t comment further,” he told Hindustan Times.
This is the second time in two years that a match has been called off in India due to poor outfield. Last time a match was called off in India due to wet outfield was at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2015.