Why the whole ground wasn’t covered? Sunil Gavaskar questions ECB over poor rain measures

The rain has played spoilsport a number of times in the ongoing World Cup. As many as four matches were washed out during the league stage and the ICC had come under the severe scanner. Moreover, many slammed the England Cricket Board (ECB) for poor ground facilities. While the situation improved significantly for the later part of the tournament, the rain returned to spoil the party in the first semi-final and the match had to be pushed to the reserve day. This move has left Sunil Gavaskar fuming as he believes that the whole ground should’ve been covered.

He has come down hard against the ECB for not taking enough measures as it was the semi-final of a World Cup. He felt that both, India and New Zealand lost all the momentum they had gathered and had to come out the next day. He was especially irked with the ground being partially covered which led to the game going into the reserve day.

“Nature has its own ways and that is not controllable by humans, so the rains washing out the game after New Zealand had almost completed its innings is understandable. What, however, is not understandable and acceptable is to see, once again, the ground partially covered against the rain,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for the Times of India.

Gavaskar takes a dig at British media

Sunil Gavaskar also took a dig at the British media stating that they would’ve ripped apart if the incident had happened in any country raising questions over its ability to host a World Cup. “If the game couldn’t start after the rain had stopped in any other country, the British media would have had a field day having a go at the country, its ineptitude and questioned how a big event like the World Cup was given to that country,” the former Indian cricketer further wrote.

Interestingly after the rain stopped, when the part covers were being taken off, the water on it was spilled on the ground and a puddle formed. The supersopper came out and cleared the puddle but the wetness on that area remained which led to the umpires not restarting the match.