BCCI suspends Pune curator

• A curator falling to the lure of corrupt money doesn’t come as a surprise to former BCCI pitch committee chairman Venkat Sundaram, who says “underpaid groundsmen” are vulnerable to such approaches. Besides being a pitch expert, Sundaram is a former first class cricketer who played against the now suspended Pune curator and former pacer Pandurang Salgaoncar in the 1970s and the ‘80s.  “Players and officials have been involved in corruption in the past, so the next soft target was likely to be the curators, who in my opinion are hugely underpaid compared to match officials and players,” Sundaram is reported to have said. Salgaoncar, a former Maharashtra speedster, was considered a genuine India prospect in early and mid ‘70s. He toured with the Indian team for an unofficial series against Sri Lanka back in 1974. Sunil Gavaskar’s autobiography ‘Sunny Days’ mentions him as being a genuine prospect who was unlucky not to don national colours. The former pacer took 214 wickets in 63 first-class games.
• Former India captain Sourav Ganguly also expressed his shock. “I don’t know how he can tweak the pitch in one day and prepare it accordingly for a bookie. I don’t know in what context he was saying this,” Ganguly said.

The BCCI has suspended the curator of Pune’s cricket stadium after he was seen on a TV sting operation claiming that he could tamper with the pitch ahead of the second India-New Zealand ODI.

However, the match, second of a three-game series, went ahead as scheduled after an ICC observer approved the track following an inspection.

Maharashtra Cricket Association president Abhay Apte made the announcement barely half an hour before the toss. In the sting operation by a leading TV channel from India, curator Pandurang Salgaoncar is seen and heard speaking to an undercover reporter, who poses as a bookie, while standing on the pitch of the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

The 68-year-old, Salgaoncar, is seen agreeing to tamper with the pitch to suit the requirements put forth by the reporter. The channel said that the video was shot last evening.

It is not clear how Salgaoncar, a former pacer and one-time India prospect, could have tweaked the pitch with just a few hours to go before the match.

“Pandurang Salgaoncar has been suspended from the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s curator’s post with immediate effect,” BCCI acting Secretary Amitabh Chaudhary told media in Pune. “The MCA has also suspended Salgaoncar from all other positions in the association. An inquiry commission will also be constituted by MCA. At BCCI, we reiterate that we have zero tolerance towards any corrupt activity,” he added.

This was reiterated in a statement issued later by the BCCI in which Ramesh Mhamunkar was named the point person for the centre wicket and the field of play for the second ODI between India and New Zealand.

What has left senior BCCI officials baffled is that Salgaoncar allowed a self-confessed bookie to accompany him to the main match pitch. Under BCCI rules no unaccredited persons, including journalists, are allowed near the pitch.

The Pune pitch had been under the spotlight earlier as well. It had been rated poor by the ICC after an India- Australia Test match in February.

The Australians had hammered India by 333 runs on a turner where the home team was bowled out for 105 and 107 in two innings. The game itself had ended inside three days.