Sehwag, Gambhir ditched by luck & Jharkhand association

Poor Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. As if form weren’t by their side, luck is also betraying them. Delhi Cricket saw today’s edition of the Hindustan Times and felt really sorry about what the Delhi’s iconic players have to go through. The Ranji Trophy game against Jharkhand was abandoned without a ball being bowled. This first round Ranji game was the second successive first class game that Sehwag and Gambhir played but which was washed out.

While Duleep Trophy final at Kochi suffered due to poor drainage facilities as Shashi Tharoor lashed out on twitter, the one at Jamshedpur was a result of plain lackadaisical attitude.

Firstly, why did the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) stage the game at Tata Steel’s Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur when the Ranchi stadium was available as the ODI had already taken place on October 23 while the Ranji game was to begin on October 27.  And while there was no rain on all the four playing days, the damage done by rains was enough to make the ground slushy, the pitch wet enough to cause abandonement.

As DDCA vice-president Chetan Chauhan learnt shockingly that they didn’t even have super-soppers --- just one small one. The JSCA official curator, SB Singh, didn’t even bother to visit Jamshedpur and stayed put in Ranchi. The local curator, an employee of Tata Steel had no clue how to manage things and while the equipment was lying in Ranchi for the one-dayer, he was left using primitive techniques which weren't enough.

“It is a loss not just for Sehwag and Gambhir but also for Delhi. Our competitors like Punjab and Gujarat have scored full points while we have to split points,” Delhi coach Sanjeev Sharma was quoted by HT as saying.

So, basically Delhi begin afresh when they play Gujarat in the next round. One feels sorry for Viru and Gauti as also for the Delhi team. Jharkhand were easy runs and points for them.