Mumbai Ranji team slams Mysore's outfield

Updated on: 10 January,2010 07:11 AM IST |
Anand I Naik |

There's no doubt the Mumbai cricketers would have been pleased as they arrived in Mysore on Friday.

There's no doubt the Mumbai cricketers would have been pleased as they arrived in Mysore on Friday. The city of palaces is a very popular tourist destination and it's not often that cricket matches are held in towns, which are a far cry from the hectic pace of Mumbai.

But they are surely not pleased with the venue of their Ranji Trophy final against Karnataka. To be more specific, the outfield of the Gangothri Glades Stadium.

The ground is hard, uneven and has barren patches at many places, which will make a player think twice before going for a dive.

Mysore was picked as a last-minute venue after theu00a0 Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore was deemed unfit for a match.

"They could have surely picked a better venue. This is a sub-standard venue where even basic facilities are not available. Gymkhanas in Mumbai have better outfields than the one here," a member of the Mumbai team said on condition of anonymity. "Nothing can be done now but the BCCI must look into this matter. They could have sent someone a few days earlier to check if the venue is suitable for a game as important as this."

While there are chances that Mumbai would be looking to lodge a protest, for now they will have to worry about finding ways to deal with the situation.

"It's not the best venue. It would have been better if we were playing at some other ground. But that is not in our hand, so we have to be ready to deal with the situation," Mumbai coach Praveen Amre said.