India vs Australia 2017: Australia unhappy with meals ahead of second ODI

What’s the story?

Whe Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) have already been dealing with incessant rainfall ahead of the second ODI between India and Australia at the Eden Gardens on Thursday, more problems were added to their plate as it emerged that the Australian cricketers were unhappy with the inability of the organizers to provide them ‘perfectly’ cooked grilled chicken.

According to a report in CricketNext on Tuesday, things took an ugly turn when the Australian players found out that the grilled chicken they were served had not been cooked at the prescribed temperature.

“The Australian players were not too happy when they came to realise that the grilled chicken served to them had not been cooked at the prescribed 73 degree centigrade. They had already made their requirement known in advance and the fact that it wasn’t followed did not go down too well with them.”

In case you didn’t know…

Ahead of any match, the host city’s cricketing body is briefed about the training and match schedule of the players, the hotel lists where they would be staying, the flight details and most importantly the food and daily requirement of each player.

Likewise, the CAB had been briefed by the BCCI as early as 12th September.

The heart of the matter

Things have evidently not gone according to plan for the CAB. With rain forcing training sessions to be replaced with indoor sessions, and heavy thunderstorms predicted for Thursday afternoon, these are certainly difficult times for CAB President Sourav Ganguly and team.

The CAB official, however, added that the situation with the Australian team was now under control. Apparently, it took some cajoling for them to calm down and chefs have been told not to repeat the mistake. It emerged in the report that the Australians were happy with the food served on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Ganguly, who is the president of CAB, inspected the ground conditions and gave instructions to the groundstaff even as the ground remained under cover. Pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee, though, affirmed that the pitch and ground conditions were perfect for an ODI.

The CAB are unhappy with the scheduling of matches by the BCCI. Earlier, any match during this season was hosted by the north Indian cities where the rainy season had passed. In Kolkata, matches were held during winter when there is no possibility of rain. But things have changed.

What’s next?

The second ODI will be played later today and although the threat of rain looms large, it is expected that the fans will get to see some action.

Author’s take

It is safe to say that the move of the CAB officials did not go down too well with Steve Smith and Co. However, now that the matter has been resolved, we can all look forward to the action on the pitch.