Hyderabad: Ganguly Dada ko itna gussa kyon ata hai!

Solomon S Kumar
[ 8 Sep, 2006 0327hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

HYDERABAD: The dreadful red thing with a four-letter name irked Sourav Ganguly so much on Thursday that the rattled southpaw went marching to umpire I Sivaram.

What got Ganguly’s goat was the umpire’s decision to change the ball within the first 10 overs and then a couple of overs later during Bengal’s innings against Mumbai in the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup match at the Gymkhana here. Throughout the day Mumbai fielders were seen showing the ball to the umpires as they did not seem too happy with its shape.

As the umpires were waiting to change the ball a second time, Ganguly decided to take things in hand. The shirt-waving southpaw marched towards the umpire and after a short animated chat was seen gesticulating towards the Bengal dressing room.

Within minutes one of the players ran out with a couple of used balls. But the umpires preferred to rub a new ball to a used one.

Later, Sivaram told TOI: "He was unhappy when we had to change the ball a second time. He said there was no need to replace it with a new ball and instead an old one should be used," Sivaram said.

"I told him that there were no used balls in the association and, hence, we had to sandpaper a new ball. He insisted that we find a used ball. He said, 'An umpire of your calibre should know things better’. I told him to suggest a solution to the problem as there were no old balls. Ganguly then had some used balls brought from the dressing room. But they could not be used as they were too old."

Sivaram, one of the best umpires in the country, said Ganguly remained unhappy. "So I told him that both teams should have a level playing field. But when he inisted we continue with the same ball, I told him that once the umpires made a decision, it would be unfair to the fielding side if we did not go ahead with it."

Even when play resumed Ganguly seemed irreconcilable to the idea. "I told Ganguly that such a small issue should not affect him so much. If a player of your experience is disturbed by the change of ball then what will a newcomer do. This seemed to have an effect on him and he got down to business," Sivaram said.

The Hyderabad umpire added that the balls used in first class cricket in the country have been causing a lot of problems. "This is happening everywhere. Even in Ranji Trophy matches, umpires are having a problem with the balls, which lose shape fast." he said.