17 February,2009 08:24 AM IST | | A Correspondent
Less than a week after a Test between England and the West Indies was abandoned due to an underprepared wicket, Mumbai's tie against Gujarat in the West Zone one-dayers for the Ramakant Desai Trophy at the Khandheri Stadium was called off for similar reasons yesterday.
However, unlike in Antigua where the Test was shifted to a different stadium, Mumbai's crucial tie was shifted to an adjoining strip after both the skippers, Wasim Jaffer and Parthiv Patel, agreed on the issue. Eventually, after two tosses and two playing XIs, Gujarat overhauled the target of 223 off 41 overs with four balls and three wickets to spare.
Mumbai coach Praveen Amre, disappointed with his team's second straight loss, highlighted the dangers of such underprepared pitches.
"I don't entirely blame the pitch," Amre said. "But such things should be avoided in future as it is too dangerous for players. We had two players in our team, Rohit (Sharma) and Dhawal (Kulkarni) who are bound to tour New Zealand with the Indian team."
