Sri Lankan curator under fire for slow wicket in Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s cricket authorities wish to know why the wicket behaved the way it did in the tri-series final.

The pitch in Mirpur for the final played too slow for Bangladesh’s final.

 

Bangladesh cricket authorities have sought an explanation from their Sri Lankan curator Gamini de Silva for preparing a slow wicket in Dhaka, where the host lost the tri-nation final against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka defeated much-fancied Bangladesh by 79 runs on Saturday to win the 50-over tournament, which also involved Zimbabwe.

Bangladesh was bowled out for 142 while chasing 222 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, where it had posted 320 for 7 in the league phase against the same opponent. “We wanted to know from Gamini why the wicket behaved like that,” said Bangladesh Cricket Board media committee chairman Jalal Yunus.

‘Routine explanation’

“It was a wicket of 320 runs. All of a sudden it turned out to be a slow wicket. This is a routine explanation, which we can always seek from an employee,” he said.

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Officials said the slow wicket was contrary to the requirements of home team with experts identifying it as one of the main reasons behind the host’s debacle in the final.

Former umpire-turned-curator Gamini has been in charge of the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium since 2011. He was subjected to some harsh criticism for producing slow wickets during the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 tournament in November. The ground also came under scrutiny from the International Cricket Council, which rated its outfield as “poor” after Bangladesh beat Australia in a Test match in August-September.