India vs Australia: BCCI chief curator Daljit Singh's job on the line after ICC rates Pune pitch 'poor'

New Delhi: Veteran pitch curator Daljit Singh’s job as chief curator of the BCCI is on the line after the scathing report by the International Cricket Council (ICC) which rated the Pune pitch, prepared under his guidance, as ‘poor’. [caption id=“attachment_3308552” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Indian captain Virat Kohli looks back at his stumps as Australian cricketers celebrate on Day 3 of the Pune Test. AFP[/caption] In fact, Daljit was in charge when the Nagpur pitch was also rated ‘poor’ by ICC match referee Jeff Crowe during the India versus South Africa Test match in November 2015 that ended inside three days with an emphatic victory for hosts. Another showcause by the ICC certainly has not gone unnoticed by the Committee of Administrators (COA) and BCCI CEO Rahul Johri will have to frame a reply within 14 days according to the global body’s norm. “Even if there were instructions from team management, Daljit could have just ignored them. No one can pressurise the curator if he doesn’t want to buckle down. But Daljit has had a history of succumbing to demands of the team management, giving one designer track after another. It’s just that Nagpur and Pune were too bad even for his comfort. The COA might look into the matter,” a top BCCI source told PTI. Daljit’s position will certainly be under threat as this is the second adverse ICC rating in 14 months. There are some rumours in BCCI circle that one senior functionary among the existing lot called up in Pune at the behest of the team management but that was merely a telephonic conversation and nothing documented. Since there are no written instructions from the team management or the BCCI, the buck stops at Daljit, who is already 79 and has survived as Lodha reforms doesn’t specify the age of a curator like selectors (60 years) or administrators (70 years).