& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Rain can t stop it

Mohammad Isam
Say, it buckets down for almost an hour. Play during the
Kitply Cup will still be possible at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
That's the good news that reverberated around the Mirpur ground yesterday as the Tigers warmed up and fielded in sprinkling rain in the afternoon. Even though the groundstaff stumbled as they hurriedly put the covers on the centre, the water never really threatened to gather on the surface. Even the visiting Pakistan team practised on Friday before which there was a downpour.
Armed with the best drainage facility of any sporting ground in the country, three Super Soppers, a noticeable slope, enough covers and plenty of enthusiastic groundstaff, the 'home of cricket' remains the sole reason why this tournament looks like a meaningful venture.
Holding this tournament right at the beginning of the monsoon season bewildered everyone but as they say, 'the show must go on'. Pakistan have already arrived and so will India today and in all likelihood, the matches would be of the curtailed nature.
For a change, everyone concerned were curious of the by-laws and the playing conditions yesterday and the cricket board deployed someone who knows it all.
According to BCB cricket operations committee member and veteran coach Jalal Ahmed Chowdhury, the option of a reserve day after each of the four matches cuts down the risk of a total washout even though weather forecasts point towards possible thunderstorms everyday during the tournament.
"The match will carry over to the reserve day if rain stops the match and the match referee decides that no play is possible on the match day," said Jalal.
According to the ICC playing conditions, a 20-overs-a-side game constitutes a one-day international but if the second innings does not see out 20 overs, the match will continue the next day.
" If for example it is decided that it will be a 25-overs-a-side match and one innings has been played out but the second innings only has 10 overs before rain takes over, the match will remain a 25-over game with the rest of the overs being played in the reserve day. Again, that would only happen when the match referee decides," informed Jalal.
If there was no rain around, the pitch in Mirpur would garner the most curiosity. Even now the wickets that would remain under cover for most of the non-playing time are slow with even bounce. Someone in the know quipped that predicting the nature of the Mirpur wicket is next to impossible, given the small time it had been used. Wickets across the country have
FROM PAGE 17
always been friendly to batsmen and spinners; the wicket in Mirpur is no different
"It has even bounce but it is low," said chief selector Rafiqul Alam who also added that batting first would be the best option but due to the threat of rain interruptions, it would not be unwise to bowl first in a shortened match.
The pitches are ready and so are the covers. AH teams will be on tow come match day and there wUl be an electronic scoreboard and a giant television screen. Even the advertisement boards (mostly of Indian companies) are in place but the BCB members and officials needed to answer one question.
During match days, journalists and photographers are required to carry cards around their chest which usuaHy comes after filling huge application forms a week ahead. The cards are then distributed a day or two before the event gets underway but something was different on die eve of this tri-series. BCB failed to hand out those and as a result, one question remained among all local and foreign journalists, photographers and cameramen.
"Where are those accreditation cards?"