Ranji Trophy 2022/23: Railways vs Punjab Match Postponed Due to Dangerous Pitch

Railways Cricket Team. (Source: Twitter)

The Ranji Trophy 2022-23 match between Railways and Punjab played at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi was called off on Day 2 after the pitch was judged “dangerous and unfit for play” by the match officials.

On Wednesday, the on-field umpires for the match, K Madanagopal, and Rajeev Godara discussed the matter with other officials before appraising the matter to the match referee Youraj Singh. The final decision was then passed to the captains of both the teams- Mandeep Singh of Punjab and Karn Sharma of Railways.

From the first day itself, the pitch started misbehaving as there was a lot of uneven bounce off the wicket, and on the opening day of the match, a total of 24 wickets fell, out of which 20 wickets were taken by the speedsters. Punjab was all-out for 162 runs in the first innings whereas Railways was bundled out for 150 runs on day 1.

Punjab were reduced to 18/4 in their second innings, when the match was halted by match officials, 24 wickets had fallen with fast bowlers accounting for 20 of them.

A new match will be played between the two teams in the same venue but on a different pitch and it will be a two-day game.

Pitch was dangerous: Railways head coach Nikhil Doru

"There was uneven bounce. Some balls were bouncing more than expected... hit on the helmet, and hit on the gloves. But today was the third innings, I agree the pitch was dangerous, but yesterday also it was dangerous. It will be a new match, new toss, everything will be new," Nikhil Doru told Cricbuzz.

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