BCCI curator could face sacking after second ICC poor rating

Daljit Singh’s post as a chief curator has come under scanner after the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) match referee Chris Broad rated the Pune wicket “poor” for cricket. The incident has happened for the second time in 14 months.

The chairman of the pitch committee Daljit has come in firing line for the second time since 2015 when the ICC match referee Jeff Crowe rated the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium turf in Nagpur as “poor” after the game wrapped up inside three days against South Africa.

“Even if there were instructions from team management, Daljit could have just ignored them. No one can pressurize the curator if he doesn’t want to buckle down,” a top BCCI source was quoted as saying by PTI.

According to a report, Daljit could be sacked following the response of the showcause notice to the global cricket body ICC.

“Daljit has had history of succumbing to demands of team management, giving one designer track after another. It’s just that Nagpur and Pune were too bad even for his comfort. The COA might look into the matter,” the source added.

“No one can pressurise the curator if he doesn’t want to buckle down. But Daljit has had history of succumbing to demands of team management, giving one designer track after another. It’s just that Nagpur and Pune were too bad even for his comfort. The COA might look into the matter,” the source added.

It’s pertinent to mention Daljit was monitoring the preparations for the turf – for the first Test of the four-match series against Australia.

“The fact is that we are reduced to helpers ahead of an international match and we have to follow the instruction of the BCCI pitch committee members present to oversee the preparation. My job was to follow their instructions and I did that,” Pune pitch curator Pandurang Salgaoncar told News18 earlier.

Earlier, the Pune pitch curator Pandurang Salgaoncar had warned the BCCI and the pitch committee against preparing a “dry” turf.

“I had clearly warned the BCCI against preparing a bald and dry pitch,” Salgaoncar concluded.