Ranji Trophy: J&K were leading the second innings with 209 for 1 in their second innings and a win will ensure they finish as leaders of Group A. (PTI)
Was there pitch tampering done by the hosts Baroda in their ongoing Ranji Trophy game against Jammu & Kashmir? The visitors J&K certainly made an official complaint with the match referee, and the allegation was firmly denied by Baroda, who said it was due to “dampness in pitch”.
It all happened at the start of day 3 when the start was delayed due to this issue. J&K’s coach Ajay Sharma felt the colour of the pitch had changed and his inference was the pitch had been tampered with. Sharma brought up the issue first with the umpires Pashchim Pathak and Ravi Teja and also with the match referee Arjan Kripal Singh.
J&K were leading the second innings with 209 for 1 in their second innings and a win will ensure they finish as leaders of Group A.
The Baroda Cricket Association official denied they tampered with the pitch. “The allegations made by the J&K coach are baseless. The outfield was wet and due to winter there was moisture on the pitch and even the outfield was wet. The umpire too felt the same. Anyone who has played cricket will understand that during winter there is moisture on the pitch and sometimes the outfield takes time to dry. Sometimes matches are delayed but calling it as pitch-fixed and blaming the association for this, we will not accept these allegations. We will be approaching the BCCI for remarks made by the coach.”
The umpires and match referee took their time and after a lot of discussions the game resumed at 10:55 am.
Hosts Baroda are in a dicey place in the points table thanks to Mumbai who won their game with a bonus point by defeating Meghalaya. Baroda needs to beat J&K to qualify for the knock-out stage.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
