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Kathmandu,Thursday January 20, 2000 Magh 6th, 2056.
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CAN
commits blunder
By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, Jan 19- The said washed out match
between Nepal and India in the Under-19 Youth World Cup cricket was actually won by India
yesterday.
In a shortened match, India defeated Nepal by
eight wickets.
Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) made the
correction here today by issuing a press release. CAN which had sent the press release
yesterday saying that the match was called off due to overnight rain and that both the
sides were awarded a point each, has also apologised for the mistake on its part.
Justifying the mistake (CAN) today issued a
press release saying that "it had thought the match was a wash out after SET MAX, a
branch channel of Sony TV, on which the match was scheduled to be telecasted live, said
that the overnight rain had rendered the pitch unplayable. And then after the match was
not shown."
"We had dispatched the news based on
this," further states the press release.
The justification sounds less than convincing
because for an association like CAN, one of the oldest sports organisations such mistakes
are unpardonable.
It is still a mystery why nobody thought it
necessary to issue a fax from Colombo about the result or anybody from here contacted them
on phone.
Sports enthusiasts and followers here who
were keenly following Nepal’s youth sides’s progress in the World Cup were
bewildered here today as Indian news channels yesterday had said that India had won the
match comfortably and by a margin of eight wickets while every newspaper back home, basing
their report on CAN press release, said that the match was a wash out.
There were still doubts until the CAN press
release today.
Beside this blunder, the sports journalists
here have felt that CAN has seriously undermined the intensity of a tournament like Youth
World Cup by sending very little news on the tournament.
In Nepal’s abandoned match against South
Africa, CAN issuing a press release had said that the match was abandoned due to rain
after South Africa had made 295 and both the teams shared the point and no further
information was given.
When this reporter contacted the CAN office
here regarding some more information on the match the official there said that
"that’s all we know."
But later it was revealed through the
internet that chasing South Africa’s 295, Nepal were 24-4. It was at this stage the
rain had intervened and the match had to be called off to the delight of Nepalese colts.
The only explanation for this is that by
keeping such vital information ‘secret’ they were trying to mislead the
supporters back home, said a journalist preferring to remain anonymous.
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