Under tremendous pressure from MCA, BCCI on Tuesday revoked its original decision to reschedule Bengal's smog-hit November 7-10 Ranji Trophy match against Gujarat, which was cancelled, awarding a point to each team.
Cricket Association of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday said that he will be taking up the issue of revocation of Bengal's rescheduled Ranji Trophy encounter against Gujarat with the BCCI brass including president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke.
It has been learnt from CAB sources that they will sent a formal letter to the BCCI regarding the current move. "I am aware of the situation. I will be taking up this issue at the appropriate forum with president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke," Ganguly said.
Asked if the morale of the team will be down due to this decision as they play an important match against Madhya Pradesh, starting on Wednesday, the former India captain said that he has spoken to the boys and told them to keep their chin up. "I have told the boys that they should just focus on the match and not think about anything else. Their goal should be to win the match," the former skipper added.
Bengal's smog-hit Ranji encounter against Gujarat hit (November 7-10) was rescheduled when two days went without a ball being bowled. The match was rescheduled to December 15-18 in Visakhapatnam but Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) took up the matter with BCCI citing it as an "unfair advantage" for the two teams. Under tremendous pressure from MCA, BCCI on Tuesday revoked its original decision to reschedule Bengal's smog-hit November 7-10 Ranji Trophy match against Gujarat, which was cancelled, awarding a point to each team.
It effectively means Bengal, now with 18 points from seven matches, are all but out of the contention as they play their last round group league encounter against Madhya Pradesh at the Airforce ground in Palam and need to win with a bonus (7 points) to harbour any chance to making it to the knock-outs.
Shirke's explanation is that there was some ambiguity and the prerogative of rescheduling lay with the tournament committee and not the technical committee, which Ganguly heads.
However in CAB, the contention in the matter is that this decision to revoke falls flat due to amended BCCI constitution Page 3 Clause F (ii) which states: "The Committee shall recommend change if any in the format or schedule of the Senior Tournaments to the Technical Committee".
The CAB plans to point out these particular amendment done in the playing conditions and rules.
Shirke had earlier in the day said, "There was some confusion on that. We have now decided to make the rules more explicit so that such situations may not occur in future, everything is a learning process. This is the first time there was a smog-pollution affected match and therefore, I think what the senior tournament committee has decided is a fair call in the interest of cricket and within the rules."
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