With the abandonment of the 5th and final ODI between India and Sri Lanka, the Kotla stadium ground is at stake as one of the World Cup 2011 match venues. India has already won the series, however, the incident of pitch being sticky at Kotla has dented Delhi’s chances of being one of the venues of the World Cup in 2011, though the ICC has said it will follow the prescribed monitoring process before taking any decision.
The Indian Cricket Board today disbanded its Grounds and Pitches Committee with immediate effect. The decision was reportedly made after the cricket pitch incident at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium in New Delhi which led to the canceling of the fifth and final ODI between India and Sri Lanka.
“The BCCI has disbanded its Grounds and Pitches Committee with immediate effect,” a one-line statement issued by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, who was present at the venue, said. The decision to disband the five-member committee headed by Daljit Singh came hours after the final one dayer was called off because of a dangerous pitch.
The match was into its 24th over when Sri Lankan batsman Thilina Kandamby complained to the umpires and the match was eventually called off.
After Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and asked Sri Lanka to bat first, the visiting batsmen found themselves on a tricky track where the odd ball bounced alarmingly.
Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan was hurt by such a delivery from Ashish Nehra, which had him in pain and receiving on-field treatment. Veteran Sanath Jayasuriya was also at the receiving end of the poor pitch, sustaining many a blow on his upper arm and wrist.
The preparation of the pitch was done by its new curator Vijay Bahadur Mishra, who began the process on November 8 which left the organizers with nearly 50 days to ready the track for the match.
Despardes 