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Observer sent packing

PCA says Vineet Kumar’s appointment not valid

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MOHALI: Delhi's Vineet Kumar is hardly known outside his own den, the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). On Friday, he walked into the Punjab Cricket Association office, expecting to be garlanded and ushered in. To his misfortune, none in the PCA set-up could recognise him. For good measure he introduced himself as the Board-appointed observer for the second One-dayer between India and Sri Lanka. Still, there was no reaction.

The PCA refused to accept his appointment because it was not done by the Programmes and Fixtures Committee (PFC) - the panel authorised to nominate the observers. The committee never met and PCA believed someone sitting at the Eden Gardens did the appointments.

Frantic telephone calls were made to and fro from Mohali  by the hapless Vineet Kumar. Chairman of the PFC and Mumbai-based industrialist Kamal Morarka got in touch with PCA bigwigs, asking them not to throw Vineet out. He is also believed to have admitted that the appointment was not done properly and promised to ratify the decision at the next meeting. But the PCA would have none of it.

To repair the damage, Morarka has called a PFC meeting on Saturday, ostensibly to select venues for the three Tests against Sri Lanka and also for England's tour later this winter. Actually, the meeting is likely to withdraw the appointment of observers for the remaining five ODIs and decide on a fresh list.

The present set of observers have apparently been appointed keeping the upcoming Board election in mind. For the record no one can recall the last time a match was played without an observer.

MOHALI MASTI/SUKHWANT BASRA

Sachin, the trend setter
Led by the little master, a small accessory is getting big with the Indian team. Out of the fifteen members of this squad, seven sport earphones with, presumably, music blaring. Sachin Tendulkar discovered the magical aid that helps ignore all shouts and screams for attention long before the others. But you can never keep a good idea from spreading, can you? Instead of appearing plain rude or doing the 'I am just deaf' routine that Rahul Dravid shields behind, the music lovers can just walk on without responding to the yells that fans must hurl to show their fervour. The lack of volume in the ear was obvious when Yuvraj Singh, who had just ignored a horde of screaming females, instantly turned around when he heard the familiar voice of a PCA old timer. Hmm.

Man's world?
There were women, women and lots of pretty women. A stark contrast to just a few years back when cricket watching was an all male thing. A woman walking into PCA during a match would elicit all kinds of lewd comment and that was, not surprisingly, enough reason for the fairer ones to stay away.

However, while the species has evolved, the eye candy stays confined to the premier pavilion end. For anyone even passably delicate to weather the serpentine queues and then police lathi charges when the crowd grows restive in the general block, is indeed too much of an ask. When their head is held high and the body is without grope all across the stadium, only then would true evolution have arrived.

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