ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle asked the hosts to remove some gigantic red advertisement signboards from a section of the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium here.
NEW DELHI: ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle on Tuesday asked the hosts to remove some gigantic red advertisement signboards from a section of the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium here, the venue of the first India-Pakistan Test from Thursday.
On one side of the stadium, large red signboards of a well-known mobile service provider have been put up. The problem is that the colour of the cricket ball for the Test matches is also red and when bowlers bowl from that end, it will be 'lost' in the background of the same colour.
"When Madugalle saw the heavy advertisement hoardings at the Delhi Gate End today, he asked us to remove some of them so that they do not obstruct the batsmen in sighting the ball," a top Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) official told.
He said the match referee particularly pointed out that when left-handers bat against a left-arm bowler bowling over the wicket, they would not be able to sight the red ball against the red hoardings.
"Madugalle said the left-handed batsmen would find it difficult to see the ball. So, he has told us to remove some vertical hoardings from the pillars, which are in line with the bowling arm of the bowlers," the DDCA official said.
"Even otherwise, the red hoardings could hamper fielding as the fielders might find it difficult to catch the ball," he said.
Although the permanent plastic seats in that particular enclosure are also red, they might not affect the batsmen because they would be occupied by the spectators.
The DDCA is also taking care of the height of the two sightscreens considering Sachin Tendulkar's height.
"Every time Sachin plays at the Kotla, he requests us to raise the sightscreen a little more so that he can see the ball better," the official said.
"As he is just five-foot-five-something, the angle of delivery from a tall bowler like Umar Gul poses problems. This time, we have already raised the height of the sightscreens," the official said.
Besides former Sri Lanka Test player Madugalle, umpires Simon Taufel of Australia and West Indies' Billy Doctrove visited the ground.
The two teams practised at Kotla on Thursday.
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