IPL 2019: No BCCI curators at Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata

The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is in full flow. Eight matches have been played and the first week is almost coming to an end. Barring a couple of games, all the others have been pretty high scoring. In fact, the pitch that Chepauk laid out for the opening game has come under the scanner. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were shot down for a mere 70 and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) also took 17.4 overs to get to the target.

BCCI has now made the decision to not send curators to oversee proceedings at three of the top IPL venues. The move has been made after the franchises expressed their unhappiness in the BCCI curators interfering with the local pitches. For example, the low-scoring season opener between CSK and RCB created some unrest and unease in the BCCI.

“Curators are always told that the paying public comes to an IPL expecting runs to be scored. Dull pitches can turn away crowds. After the first game, all the venues were reminded of that philosophy and cautioned against having very low-scoring games,” a BCCI official was quoted saying to TOI.

No BCCI curators at Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata

There is a system that curators fly into the very venue to inspect the preparations of the pitch. These curators are from BCCI’s panel who are also a part of the board’s pitches and grounds committee. It was around five years ago that BCCI started this neutral curator assignment for the IPL. This is to avoid teams eyeing for massive home advantage.

However, a BCCI official stated that there’s some unrest over the neutral curator system and a few teams are pushing for that home advantage. “There has been some unrest over this neutral curator system. BCCI officials are in a fix. There is no clear consensus on this,” an official told TOI.

Also, this year, curators from Hyderabad and Mumbai have been flown to Australia to attend a seminar.

MS Dhoni had also criticized the wickets after CSK’s first two matches:

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