Cockroach served to Karnataka and Andhra cricketers, HCA smells a rat

Hyderabad: Players of the Karnataka cricket team were in for a surprise when a dead cockroach was found in the breakfast served before their South Zone inter-state one-day match against Andhra at the AOC ground here on Friday.

The cricketers, used to the rough and tumble of life on the grueling road, played sport. They brushed it aside and continued to enjoy their upma. “We chucked it out and went ahead with our breakfast,” said a player who did not wish to be quoted.

Read: Dead rats, pigeon feathers leave Kotla press box in mess

“I do not even recollect whose plate it was in for we all were digging spoons off an assortment,” the player said as he tried to play the incident down.Top brass of the Hyderabad Cricket Association, hosts of the event, smell a rat though. President Arshad Ayub pointed at sabotage. “Someone’s playing dirty,” he told this newspaper. “That was steamy hot food and it appears that it (the cockroach) was deliberately placed on top of it. We are investigating the entire issue, and will get to the bottom of it. We know who is involved,” Arshad added.

It may not be out of place to mention that Arshad led his group to a landslide win, wresting all but one seat on the 23-member HCA committee from the ruling group in the bitter biennial elections held exactly two months ago.When approached by this correspondent midway through the game, match referee Amit Sharma admitted “there was an issue but it has been sorted out.”

Mr Sharma refused to elaborate, saying “I am bound by BCCI guidelines not to speak during the game.”Would he speak after it? “I don't think so,” he said before extending his hand for a parting shake that implied he was keen to cut the conversation about the unsavoury incident. BCCI cricket operations manager and former Hyderabad Cricket Association secretary M.V. Sridhar said he had “no clue” about the episode.

The episode is embarassing. The Karnataka team has three internationals  Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun and Robin Uthappa  in their ranks while former India player Md Kaif is in the Andhra side.