Former India captain and legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has slammed Cricket South Africa following the wash out of the 1st T20I between South Africa and India due to persistent rains in Durban on Sunday, December 10.
The first T20I between hosts South Africa and visiting Team India was abandoned without a toss. The on-field umpires waited for two hours after the scheduled toss time and were compelled to call off the match due to wet pitch conditions.
Speaking to Star Sports, Gavaskar didn’t leave the opportunity to denounce Proteas cricket board, stating that the entire ground should have been covered. He is of the opinion that every cricket board has been provided with money to buy covers to refrain the pitch from getting wet due to rains.
“If the ground remains uncovered and the rain stops, you know it doesn't start for another one hour. Suddenly it rains again. So there's no play whatsoever. Everybody (cricket boards) is getting a lot of money. Let's make no mistake.” the former India captain said.
“All the cricket boards have got plenty of money. If they say they don't, they are lying. They might not have as much money as the BCCI. Fair enough. But every board has got money to buy these covers to cover the entire ground," he added.
Gavaskar hails Eden Gardens
Sunil Gavaskar has provided an example on how iconic Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata covered the entire ground to protect the field from getting wet and said that the world should learn from the initiatives by Eden under the guidance of Sourav Ganguly.
“What the boards need to do now is to cover the entire ground. Let's have no excuse. I remember I think there was one Test match at Eden Gardens called where there was some problem at the game didn't start.” he said.
“Next game, Eden Gardens had the entire ground covered of. That is the kind of initiative that you want to have. Sourav Ganguly was the man in charge and he made sure that nobody could point the finger at Eden Gardens,” Gavaskar further added.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly served as the president of Cricket Associate of Bengal from 2015 and 2019 when he took the initiative of having the entire ground at Eden Gardens to shield the field from getting wet due to rains.
