It’s irrelevant whether you install an Anti-Corruption and Security Unit as a watchdog or not, Indian cricket — as long as there is money and honey — will never fall short of controversies. A few hours before the second ODI between India and New Zealand in Pune, Pandurang Salgaonkar allegedly offered the pitch on sale to meet the demands of a few reporters who introduced themselves to the curator as bookies.
According to reports, the veteran curator — who also played cricket for Maharashtra — was asked to prepare a pitch that would assist fast bowlers of one of the competing teams, to which he replied saying: “It will be done.”
It is still not clear what time or under what conditions was he approached; did he say ‘yes’ to not prolong the discussion? Was he afraid of the bookies? It could also be that he agreed just to let them pass and not actually meet the demands later. However, it is true that Salgaonkar shouldn’t have allowed the ‘bookies/reporters’ to inspect the pitch, which is a breach of the ICC and BCCI rules and regulations.
While the investigation is on, we spoke to a couple of renowned curators to understand how they stay away from strangers.
“The instructions are a plenty. It is up to you how much you want to maintain them. But I believe one should be respectful towards his job. It’s a blessing and you should treat it accordingly. No matter what you do in life, you should respect your job as your employers have hired you with a huge amount of trust,” says Eden Gardens curator Sujan Mukherjee, who single-handedly changed the nature of wicket to a neutral one in the recent years.
“I ensure that nobody walks into the ground even on days when there are no games. Even the joint secretary, Avishek Dalmiya (of the Cricket Association of Bengal), calls me before walking into the ground. I really adore him for that. And I know my groundsmen by their faces, like I know the reporters. There is no question of a stranger inspecting the wicket, I don’t know how that happened in Pune,” he added.
Mukherjee believes Salgaonkar threw his self-esteem in the air. “It is unfortunate.”
“When I worked with my state association, which is popular for hosting a few iconic matches in international cricket, I made sure the wicket inspection was limited to only the skippers of both the sides. At the most, the coach,” said another veteran curator, on the condition of anonymity.
He retired a few years ago but still remains a consultant at his respective ground before an international match. This gentleman also revealed that Salgaonkar used to earn a monthly salary from the BCCI. “I read somewhere that his salary was somewhere around Rs 65,000 per month. It is like a pension from the board because he played Ranji Trophy for Maharashtra back in the day. I don’t know why he needed more money,” he said.
On the other hand, former BCCI pitch committee chairman Venkat Sundaram believes Salgaonkar could have been made a scapegoat; well, there was no monetary exchange. It was just a sting operation and he is yet to be pronounced guilty by the ICC.
While Sundaram agreed that he has faced interventions from many people during his working days, these controversies can be avoided if the curators are paid more than what they get now. “They should be paid double the amount. Only the curators affiliated to the board are paid by the BCCI, rest are not. Most of them don’t even receive their salary on time. These issues need to be looked at for a curator’s job demands a lot of hard work. If money is in place, this kind of a mess wouldn’t happen,” he asserted.
The ICC will take a call on Salgaonkar’s fate once Steve Richardson, the ICC ACU co-ordinator of investigations, submits his report. The former was grilled on the issue on Friday.