Punjab vs Railways Ranji Trophy game at the Karnail Singh Stadium, Delhi, was suspended as the match officials termed the pitch as "dangerous and unfit for play" after a 24 wickets fell in just 103 overs.
Out of the 24 wickets that fell during the the course of two days, 20 were scapled by the fast-bowlers. Punjab was at 18 for 4 in their second essay after taking a 12-run first innings lead.
'Never Seen A Wicket Like That'
"I have never seen a wicket like that in Ranji before. The bounce was too unpredictable making the pitch very unsafe. What we have been told that the game will be played on a fresh pitch. The umpires and match referee took the right call to abandon today's play and start afresh tomorrow. Players put a lot of effort into preparation for this game so disappointed to see a wicket like that," Punjab batter Abhishek Sharma told PTI.
The decision was taken during the drinks break in the second session when on-field umpires K Madanagopal and Rajeev Godara discussed the matter with match referee Youraj Singh and also had a word with both captains - Mandeep Singh of Punjab and Karn Sharma of Railways.
With the Elite Group D game reduced to a two-day affair, a result is highly unlikely, which might affect both Railways and Punjab's chances in the tournament. Punjab's first match had ended in a draw after bad light brought an early end to their contest against Chandigarh, while the Railways had lost to Vidarbha by 194 runs.
Bad Reputation
This is not the first time Karnail Singh Stadium has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Earlier, BCCI put the venue under a watchlist for producing poor pitches in 2011. In 2012, BCCI banned the venue for a duration of two years after understanding that the local curator was involved in unethical practices and deliberately prepared the pitch in a way to help Railways win.
