England county club Leicestershire staring at relegation after 27-point penalty because of 'Dada' shoot
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "England county club Leicestershire staring at relegation after 27-point penalty because of 'Dada' shoot")
England county club Leicestershire staring at relegation after 27-point penalty Photograph: (X/Leicestershire County Club)
Leicestershire faces County Championship Division 1 relegation after a 27-point penalty for a poor pitch against Glamorgan. Groundsman Callum Lewin blamed unscheduled filming for Sourav Ganguly's biopic.
English county club Leicestershire, which is playing in Division 1 after an exile of 22 years, is once again looking at being relegated. The club finds itself in a dire situation after being handed a deduction of 27 points for a 'poor pitch' during their match against Glamorgan in August. The decision to penalize was taken by the independent Cricket Discipline Panel (CDP) during their ongoing penultimate match of the season against Hampshire. A loss in the match would confirm Leicestershire's relegation to Division 2 for the next county season. The club's head groundsman Callum Lewin, meanwhile, has blamed "unscheduled filming of a Bollywood movie" as the reason for the pitch not being up to par. Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly's biopic Dada is the movie which was shot at the ground.
English county club on the brink of relegation because of "Dada"
In the match, Leicestershire batted first and scored only 151 runs in the first innings, while Glamorgan managed only 152 in their first innings. The scores were slightly better in the second innings as Leicestershire scored 257 to set a target of 257 for Glamorgan, but the visitors could manage only 214 runs and lost the match by 42 runs.
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After the match, Glamorgan admitted conditions were "tough" for batters, while home side coach Alfonso Thomas acknowledged the pitch was "a bit drier than what we wanted" in comparison to their innings victory against Yorkshire in June.
The match referee reported the pitch as "poor" in his report, and head groundsman Lewin, in an interview with the Cricket Regulator before the CDP hearing, cited "circumstances leading up to the game that were just out of my control" which included an "unscheduled Bollywood filming event" four days prior to the match. The movie was shot only for a day at the Uptonsteel Grace Road.
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"We have come across reports concerning the shoot of Dada - The Sourav Ganguly Story in Leicestershire. We would like to clarify that the shoot was duly planned and carried out with all requisite permissions and protocols in place. We are not aware of any incident or issue arising in relation to the shoot," said LUV Films in a statement as reported by Sports Now.
What next for Leicestershire?
After being penalized 19 points from the win for a poor pitch and an additional eight points along with a £5,000 fine, a further eight-point deduction, which is suspended for a year, has also been handed to the club. The points deduction means they are now at the bottom of the points table, and a loss against Hampshire in their ongoing match would see them relegated to Division 2.
In response, Leicestershire also issued a statement which read: “Having received the Panel’s decision, the Club is reviewing its position and considering all available options.”
