Why so much fuss over Green Park pitch, wonders security guard

KANPUR: Security guard Shambhu Lal (not his real name) at the Green Park stadium has been instructed not to let anyone approach the pitch for the third and final ODI between India and New Zealand on Sunday.

The guard was confused on Friday, wondering why officials have become so strict. ‘Kya log ghadda khod denge pitch par, ya mitti utha kar le jayenge?’ (What, will someone dig up the pitch or take the mud away?) he asked a Hindustan Times correspondent.

When told that Pune curator Pandurang Salgaonkar was sacked on Wednesday after a TV sting alleged he agreed to doctor the pitch to aid reporters posing as bookies,he laughed. “This much can be predicted even by the cricket hostel trainees who play on this pitch regularly,” said Shambhu.

Many connected with the ground and pitch work at Green Park felt Salgaonkar could have been trapped into a fixing controversy and nothing is unlikely to be proved legally.

“When there is no exchange or payment of money for the so-called predictions made by the curator on TV, you can’t say it is match-fixing. And if his predictions were correct, then how did New Zealand get out for such a low total batting first after winning the toss,” asked an official of the BCCI ground and pitch committee, preferring anonymity.

India chased only 231 to win in Pune and level the series 1-1.

“Against a seasoned man like Pandurang, such an accusation is baseless. If the incident is true then bosses of the Maharashtra Cricket Association should also be suspended as they were responsible for security near the pitch.”