Rajiv Gandhi stadium goes pitch-dark!

Hyderabad: The famed state-of-the-art Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (RGICS) earned a dubious distinction on Saturday when it was hosting the IPL showdown between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). That

Hyderabad is notorious for load-shedding is commonplace but power-tripping in a stadium of the magnitude of RGICS was unfathomable. When it did come it was a major embarrassment for Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) and also the Governing Council of the IPL, which is allotted the stadium for the conduct of the match.

Trouble started even as SRH batting first were at 133 for three wickets after 14.1 overs. Suddenly one section of the stadium went pitch-dark after power went-off in one of the four floodlights and caught everyone including the players, umpires and spectators off-guard. There was stunned silence even as the administrators tried to rectify the power connection.

It was restored eventually but not before the damage was done and HCA stature had taken a severe beating in full public glare. Live commentary was shifted to the studios with Sunil Gavaskar ‘discussing’ other aspects. The match was virtually held-off for 15 minutes between 9.11pm and 9.26. All said and done, 15 minutes is a costly miss in a T20 match!