P Chidambaram today said the Services Board must request the BCCI to schedule another cricket match in Srinagar although the team had forfeited its fixture against the J&K team in the Bakshi stadium.
Union home minister P Chidambaram today said the Services Board must request the BCCI to schedule another cricket match in Srinagar although the team had forfeited its fixture against the Jammu and Kashmir team in the Bakshi stadium.
With the Services pullout coming under attack, the minister of state for defence MM Pallamraju said the decision was taken at "lower level" and expressed readiness to send the team if the match is rescheduled.
"Whether that (forfeited match) will be possible, whether the forfeiture if final, I cannot say. But I have told the Defence Secretary if it was not not possible to play this match in Srinagar, because it is already forfeited, the Services Board must request the BCCI to schedule another match in Srinagar," Chidambaram told reporters in Jagti, about 15km from here.
He expressed his serious displeasure over the Services team pulling out of the Ranji trophy match in Srinagar and promised to see that a cricket match takes place there.
As the decision, citing security reasons, stirred up a raging political controversy, Chidambaram said had he been aware of the move, it would not not have happened.Appealing to everyone to put this incident behind accepting the apology of the Services Sports Board not not only to the people of Jammu and Kashmir but to everybody, the home minister said said any sports event scheduled for Srinagar will take place.
"I will see that a cricket match takes place in Srinagar," he added.
Chidambaram said he was away in Deoband yesterday morning and when he returned the first thing he did was to take up the matter with the ministry of defence.
"I expressed my serious displeasure," he said.
The BCCI banned the Services from this year's Ranji trophy cricket season for skipping the match in the Bakshi stadium in Srinagar.
The BCCI, however, said that a decision whether to lift the ban or not would be taken by the President after receiving and studying the apology by the Services.
The services team decision left the Union minister and president of Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association Farooq Abdullah angry and he had threatened to take up the matter with the prime minister, home minister and the defence minister. He said the Services team had negated the Government of India's positive assessment of state's security situation.
Noting the sensitivity of the matter, BCCI promptly disqualified Services from this year's Ranji Trophy and said further action would be decided at its next working committee meeting.
Jammu and Kashmir earned four points from this forfeited match and will now take on Haryana from November 10 to 13.
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