Chandigarh : How alarming are the revelations made by a TV channel through its reporter’s sting operation on Pandurang Salgaoncar, the man who prepared the pitch for the Pune ODI? There are a few points of serious concern: The under-cover reporter, posing as a bookie/punter, managed to access the pitch with Salgaoncar, and actually walked on it. Salgaoncar replied with a “yes” when the reporter said that he would share with Salgaoncar the “benefits” from betting.
That’s the really alarming bit — the man who prepares the pitches at the Pune stadium was shown to be corruptible. In practical terms, Salgaoncar provided very generic information to the reporter.
No evidence was presented that Salgaoncar agreed to tamper with the pitch, or that any money was paid to him to do that. The conversation between him and the reporter does not seem to be conspiratorial at all — it is very generic, no details of pitch-tampering or financial benefits are discussed. The reporter’s request to him to “favour” two bowlers is dealt by Salgaoncar in a very off-hand, casual manner.
The TV channel claimed that Salgaoncar allowed its reporter to tamper with the pitch — to prove this, it showed the clip of the reporter tapping the wicket with his shoe. This claim is hilarious, and shows that the editors at the TV channel have no clue about pitch-tampering and have never seen a wicket up close. To claim that the wicket could be damaged by tapping on it with your regular everyday shoes is a joke.
Salgaoncar is known among cricket reporters to be a reckless talker who makes indiscreet claims. The TV sting tempted him into very serious indiscretion, and has shown that he’s not incorruptible.