Team India is currently eager to play a five-match T20I series against Australia. This series is going to start from October 29. Earlier, the former match referee of the International Cricket Council (ICC) has made a big allegation against Team India. In an interview, he has also made a big revelation about former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly.
Former ICC match referee Chris Broad recently revealed in an interview that during my tenure as a match referee, I received a call, in which I was pressured to take a lax attitude towards Team India and was asked to refrain from imposing a penalty on India for a slow over rate. However, he did not say who called him. Chris Broad does not remember which match it was and which team was playing against India in that match.
Chris Broad said, “At the end of the match, India were three or four overs behind, so it was like a penalty. I got a call saying ‘take it easy, take some time because this is India.’ So we had to take some time and bring the over-rate down from the stipulated time. The pre-match referee further said, ‘The same thing happened in the next match. The then Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly, did not listen to me, so I called and asked, ‘What do you want me to do now?’ And I was just told, ‘Just do it with him.'”
Chris Broad further said, “I think we had the support of Vince van der Bijl (ICC Umpire Manager) as long as he was in the position, because he came from a cricket background, but after he left, the management became very weak. India got all the money and now they have taken over the ICC in many ways.”
He said, “I’m glad I’m not in this position anymore, because it’s a much more political position than it used to be.” Chris Broad has officiated 123 Tests, 361 ODIs and 138 T20Is as a match referee. He retired from this position in February 2024.
