Opposition leader bats for Kumble

Congress man came out in support of Jumbo at a time when majority of MLAs in the assembly were baying for his blood with allegations of involvement in black marketing of tickets.

Opposition leader bats for Kumble

Congress man came out in support of Jumbo at a time when majority of MLAs in the assembly were baying for his blood with allegations of involvement in black marketing of tickets.

Congress leaders, D K Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah batted for Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath yesterday, while other leaders in the assembly were baying for their blood with allegations of black marketing of India-England match tickets.

To the rescue: Enthused by the stand taken by the Congress leaders,
Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said there was no need of constituting a
house committee to probe into the issue. Pic/Satish Badiger

Enthused by the stand taken by these two leaders, Chief Minister B S Yedyurappa came for their rescue as Kumble belongs to his party, the BJP, saying there was no need of constituting a house committee to probe into the issue. He said he would cricketers seeking an explanation.

While the rare camaraderie between the chief minister and the senior opposition leaders raised the hackles of other legislators, sources said that Siddaramaiah took this stand because he was the biggest beneficiary of the ticket distribution and he had got ten tickets for the India-England match, while fellow party MLAs struggled with one ticket each.

"It is very unfortunate that our senior leaders didn't support us when we raised an important issue," said P M Ashok, a Congress MLA, who is submitting a written statement leveling charges of irregularities against the administrative committee of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), including Kumble and Srinath. "I think we are being silenced," he added.

MLAs, cutting across party lines, raised the issue when speaker K G Bopaiah allowed a discussion on the issue during zero hour, and Ashok started the discussion by submitting his written statement to the assembly.

He leveled serious charges of irregularities in renovating the stadium in which at least Rs 5 crore was gobbled up, apart from the alleged ticket scam.

While he urged for a housing committee probe into the irregularities including the black-marketing of tickets, Ashok attacked Kumble in particular, for his autocratic attitude. Ashok alleged that Rahul Dravid got 120 tickets illegally, while former pacer Venkatesh Prasad bagged 100 tickets.

"Big names are involved in the scam and unless we conduct a thorough investigation, people will not know what is going on in the KSCA," he added. While many legislators including Congress MLA Ne La Narendra Babu and BJP MLA S R Viwsanath backed Ashok, Shivakumar intervened to tone down the issue.

"Kumble and Srinath are the icons of cricket, but new to administration and some faults have occurred due to their inexperience. We must forgive them this time," he said. "Prolonging the issue would send out wrong signals about Bangalore in the global arena," he added Endorsing his views, Siddaramaiah, said, "It is better to forget the bitter issues such as black marketing of tickets and lathi charge on cricket fans. I suggest that the CM call the office bearers of the KSCA and advice them."

Yeddyurappa agreed saying, "The incidents have happened because of the high demand and low supply of tickets. I will call them and try to set it right." He also assured of a new cricket stadium, which will be bigger and have capacity for 80,000 spectators in the city, apart from Chinnaswamy stadium.

400 Number of tickets that were distributed between cricket administrator Srinivas Prasad, former cricketers Roger Binny, Sujit Somasundaram and Vijay Bharadwaj

Tickets in black once more!
A thrilling upset match where Ireland beat England on Wednesday at Chinnaswamy Stadium has only helped to escalate the black marketing of the tickets for Sunday's match, in which India faces Ireland on the same pitch.

Before Wednesdays game, the India-Ireland match had not created as much hype as the India- England match, as it was a foregone conclusion that India would beat Ireland in a one-sided dual.

However, the match has changed the perception and black marketing is back, indicated by the tickets being sold out completely.