Sourav Ganguly’s one-line BCCI verdict on India’s complaint against ‘cold food’ at Sydney in T20 World Cup

India’s preparations for their T20 World Cup Super 12 Group 2 match against the Netherlands in Sydney have not been on the expected lines. While there haven’t been any on-field issues, the Rohit Sharma-led side has had to deal with a few things away from the cricket field.

After their practice session on Tuesday, the Indian cricketers expected a full-course meal at the Sydney Cricket Ground but the menu only had falafel, fruits and cold sandwiches. Unimpressed with the spread, the majority of the Indian cricketers decided to skip lunch and head back to their hotel room for a meal of their choice.

Although the BCCI did not lodge any official complaint, the Indian team management did let the ICC know about their disappointment regarding the food on offer at the SCG.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who was also the BCCI president till a couple of weeks ago till he was replaced by India’s 1983 World Cup-winning cricketer Roger Binny, shared his thoughts on the matter. “I’m sure BCCI will sort this out,” said Ganguly while talking to reporters at the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club in Kolkata.

Notably, all teams in Sydney were served the same food at the SCG. The ICC are in charge of the hospitality during the World Cup and not the local association. ICC said it is looking into the issue and promised to sort the matter soon.

“Yes, the Indian team has told us about their issues with the food after practice. We are trying to figure it out and the issue will be sorted,” an ICC source told PTI.

In another incident, the Indian team didn’t practice on Wednesday since the designated practice area was about 40kms from the team hotel and the players preferred not to travel that far, a day before the match against the Netherlands. This is also the norm in a tournament like the World Cup as three other teams – Netherlands, South Africa, and Bangladesh – have their match on the same day as India at the SCG and all teams have been allotted practice time at SCG – the main stadium – on a rotational basis. India’s turn was Tuesday.

Ganguly also spoke about Ireland’s stunning victory over England in the T20 World Cup on Wednesday, a five-run win via the Duckworth-Lewis method at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Terming it a “small match”, Ganguly said: “This is not the real result, I’m sure they will bounce back. You can’t help it when it rains.”Ganguly said.