On this day: A dangerous pitch in Delhi leads to an ODI cancellation
It is probably one of the worst cricketing memories in the history of Indian cricket. Sri Lanka was on a tour of India for a five-match ODI series, and the last encounter was scheduled in the capital city of Delhi on 27th December 2009. India had already won the series when they came to Feroz Shah Kotla for the last match, but only 23.3 overs were bowled before it was decided the pitch offered “extreme variable bounce and was too dangerous for further play”. The bounce varied from shin to shoulder height from similar areas.
MS Dhoni won the toss and invited Sri Lanka to bat first to face the deadly pitch of Kotla. In the morning, Upul Tharanga’s defence was broken on the first ball by Zaheer Khan. The other opener, Tillakaratne Dilshan, also struggled throughout as the ball seamed around in foggy conditions. He finally edged one behind to give Zaheer his second wicket. Jayasuriya scored 31 from 51 balls before Harbhajan Singh trapped him LBW in his first over. Thilan Samaraweera was the next to depart, as he was run out by a direct hit from Suresh Raina, whereas skipper Sangakkara was the next to fall, caught driving through cover, to give Sudeep Tyagi his maiden ODI wicket.
Sri Lanka were reeling at 83/5 in the 24th over when their captain protested against the uneven bounce in the newly-laid wicket, which was somewhere between being grassy and bald every few inches. In his pitch report, Sunil Gavaskar had said the patchiness of the playing area resembled a “hair transplant.” A majority of the deliveries sped along with the pitch at shin height and the batsmen were uncertain with their footwork. If they committed to the front foot, they often took painful blows on the body.
The Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara, who was dismissed for 1, decided he had enough of the pitch when a Sudeep Tyagi delivery bounced high enough that MS Dhoni had to jump to collect it behind the wickets. By then, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were seen waving from outside the boundary, and lengthy discussions followed. The play had remained suspended for about an hour during which match officials, players, and ground staff discussed the situation, and the match was officially abandoned by the officials.
Andy Atkinson, the-then ICC’s pitch consultant, later came down heavily on the ground authorities at the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) and as a consequence, the chairman of the BCCI pitch and grounds committee and his panel, were sacked by the BCCI, which held him responsible.
