In a move which has triggered a fresh controversy, the BCCI today asked the Cricket Association of Bengal to appoint East Zone curator Ashish Bhowmick to prepare the Eden track in place of veteran Prabir Mukherjee, who has been in charge of the historic Eden Gardens pitch for decades.
According to reports, octogenarian Mukherjee, who looks after the Eden strip, has been side-lined due to his differences with Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who insisted for rank turners from day one of the Kolkata Test against England, starting December 5.
Bhowmick, who hails from the Tripura Cricket Assocition (TCA), is arriving this evening following BCCI instruction.
"He is going there as per BCCI's instruction. But I've no idea whether he has replaced the local curator there (Prabir Mukherjee). I'm not aware of the details," TCA secretary Arindam Ganguly told PTI.
CAB joint-secretary Sujan Mukherjee, however, termed Bhowmick's visit as a "routine" inspection tour and maintained that the 83-year-old Mukherjee has not been replaced.
"It's a routine visit to assess the pitch and conditions which happens every time before a match. Prabir Mukherjee remains the Eden curator," Sujan Mukherjee said.
The BCCI's move to send Bhowmick to Kolkata ahead of the third Test has raised many eyebrows as, only on Sunday, Daljit Singh, who is the chairman of BCCI's ground and pitches committee, did a recce of the same Eden track.
Senior BCCI official and IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla refused to read too much into the matter and said the decision to send Bhowmick to Kolkata was taken by the Board's ground and pitch committee.
"All the curators work independently. This is absolutely wrong (that Dhoni had a role). No decisions are taken on the advice of anyone. The grounds and pitch committee of the BCCI took the decision in this matter," Shukla said.