India Vs New Zealand, Pitch Curator, Suspended, Maharashtra Cricket Association, BCCI, CoA, ICC, Match Referee, Chris Broad, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson
Salgaoncar barred from entering Pune stadium. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Ahead of the second One-day International match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium (MCA), in a startling revelation, the Pune pitch curator Pandurang Salgaonkar during a sting operation of India Today was seen revealing the inside information regarding the pitch to the reporters.

Precisely, the reporters acted as the bookies to fetch as much information as they could from the former first-class cricketer.

In what could be a major blow for the Indian cricket in itself, the massive controversy further pushed world cricket governing body International Cricket Council (ICC) to intervene in the matter which has grabbed the eyeballs.

However, the 68-year-old Salgaonkar was suspended from his post with immediate effect by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

So much so, Ramesh Mhamunkar has taken over as the pitch curator in Pune after tampering claim owing to the corruption scandal.

Interestingly, the same venue received a poor rating soon after the Test match between India and Australia earlier this year when Steven Smith-led side won the match by 333 runs.

India Vs New Zealand, Pitch Curator, Suspended, Maharashtra Cricket Association, BCCI, CoA, ICC, Match Referee, Chris Broad, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson
As second ODI between India-New Zealand is underway, Salgaoncar is bound to face the preliminary action. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

(Read Also: IND vs NZ 2017: Pune Pitch Curator Reveals Inside Details)

The elite-level ICC match referee Chris Broad revealed in the report by saying the pitch had an excessive movement and helped for the spin bowlers.

Somewhat turning into a snowball of a controversy, Broad took stock of the situation by revealing the pitch in the first look does not seem to be altered or doctored after the disguised as bookies.

In a shocking statement during ‘operation cricket gate’ the former cricketer Salgaoncar also revealed the pitch could be changed in five minutes.

Moreover, the controversy had grabbed the headlines hours before the Pune fixture, after New Zealand won the game by six wickets at Wankhede.

The Malvan-born Pandurang, who represented Maharastra in 63 first-class games and picked 214 wickets, is bound to be quizzed by the BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) after revealing score over 300-hundred could be chased in any away in the India Today’s video footage.

In what could be a different case in itself, the reporters even asked if he can fulfil their demands by doctoring the pitch and to which Salgaoncar responded it’s solely in his hands and could be done before reiterating the pitch could witness 300-plus on the scoreboard

Pertinently, the BCCI made it clear by saying the strong action would be taken against the culprit owing to the zero tolerance.

This is how the Twittersphere reacted after pitch curator Salgaoncar was caught in the sting operation:

https://twitter.com/PrasunK5/status/923048996318281733

Video of the Day

Tahir Ibn Manzoor

Tahir Ibn Manzoor, who tweets @TahirIbnManzoor (https://twitter.com/TahirIbnManzoor) - works as an editor for Sportzwiki.com. He has a great affection for longform feature writing. He completed his masters...

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *