Will take about a month to decide on Kotla: ICC

NEW DELHI: The ICC on Monday said it will take about a month's time to decide an "appropriate sanction" on Feroze Shah Kotla as an international venue in the wake of the pitch fiasco which led to the abandonment of the fifth and final ODI between India and Sri Lanka.

"Well, it is a well documented and transparent process. We have sought BCCI's comment and given them 14 days time to respond. Thereafter, Ranjan Madugalle (Chief Match Referee) and Dave Richardson (General Manager of cricket) will determine the issue to decide what is an appropriate sanction," Lorgat said.

The cancellation of the fifth ODI between India and Sri Lanka due to unplayable pitch conditions put a big question mark on the four games the Ferozeshah Kotla is scheduled to host for the 2011 World Cup.

Since the match referee, Alan Hurst, termed the Kotla pitch "too dangerous" for play in his statement on Sunday, an International Cricket Council (ICC) official indicated that there was an enhanced likelihood of a censure or ban stretching up to 12 months for the Kotla.

In that scenario, the matches scheduled for the big 2011 event - South Africa vs West Indies on February 24, Netherlands vs West Indies on February 28, Canada vs Kenya on March 7 and India vs Netherlands on March 9 - may have to be relocated. That would leave Delhi completely out of the biggest cricket carnival to be held here since the 1996 World Cup. Already, former cricketers are calling for Delhi to be "blacklisted", and now that the unthinkable has happened, the onus is on the ICC to take any step it deems fit.

The world body’s pitch monitoring process guidelines say that following the tabling of a report on a substandard pitch, the ICC will write to the concerned home board within 5 days, asking for a detailed explanation within 14 days.

The BCCI’s report, when it is provided, will then be referred to the general manager (cricket) Dave Richardson and ICC chief referee Ranjan Madugalle, now in Australia. They will then study the evidence and take appropriate action, with the ICC’s code of conduct allowing for a suspension ranging from 12 to 24 months.