Sting alleges cricketers doctor pitches

A new sting operation by News Express TV channel was broadcast on Monday, claiming to expose how many seniors cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, have in the past influenced curators at different venues across the country to prepare favourable pitches. 

In the operation, conducted over a period of six months, News Express reporters spoke to 10 senior curators, including Prabir Mukherjee (Kolkata), Sudhir Naik (Mumbai) and Dhiraj Parsana (Ahmedabad), who admitted on camera they have been approached by many cricketers with demands ranging from removing grass from the pitch to ensuring the ball turns from the first delivery, among others. Big names mentioned by the curators were Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. 

The channel claimed the practice was unethical under Rules 7.3 (no one can interfere in the preparation of the pitch, be it the player, the team coach or an official) and 2.3 (no information about the pitch can be given to anyone before a match) of the BCCI. ‘In 2012, ICC CEO Dave Richardson had said, ‘everyone, including the groundsmen and curators, was under suspicion in the game of cricket. Our probe wants to expose how the curators can influence the outcome of a game,’ said editor-in-chief Vinod Kapri. However, it wasn’t fully clear what were the exact charges as in practice, for a long long time, every team prepares tracks to their advantage while playing at home. When India tours Australia or South Africa, it is expected that tracks will be green. Similarly, Australia and South Africa also know pitches in India will be turners sans grass.

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Agencies