India vs SA, 3rd T20I: Indore Municipal Corporation raids MP Cricket Association ahead of final encounter

Ahead of the India-South Africa third and final T20I, at the iconic Holkar Stadium in Indore on Tuesday evening (October 04), a huge controversy broke out. The MP Cricket Association claimed that a team of IMC officials -- under Additional Commissioner Lata Agarwal -- raided their office in a bid to demand municipal taxes. The MPCA fees that the action was taken followingtheir refusalto give away 'more' free passes for officials. On the other hand, the IMC has rubbished all such charges.

On Monday (October 03), a team of IMC officials arrived at the MPCA officials and accused the body of not paying theproperty tax for the stadium. To this, MPCA office bearers protested and pointed out that the last date is months away, i.e. March 31. While the officials confirmed that the payment will be made by then, they paid INR 3.2 million (INR 32 lakhs)to settle the matter ahead of the series finale between Team India and South Africa.

In addition, the IMC team demanded entertainment tax for previous matches. It is to be noted thatthe tax liability of those encounters is not theMPCA's responsibility but on the organisers. The entertainment tax for Tuesday's T20I can only be paid after the match since the final ticket sale won't be known before that.

"I'm aghast at the timing of the raid. I am told all this was done to get passes for a junior IAS officer posted in the Indore Municipal Corporation. We decided to settle their tax demand ahead of the due date because we did not want anything to come in the way of organizing the match. The reputation of the state and country is at stake whenever there is an international match," said MPCA President Abhilash Khandekar.

"The additional commissioner Lata Agarwal kept repeating that the IMC Commissioner had sent her," said Khandekar."How many passes can we keep doling out? This freebie culture has to end," added the President.

Talking about the India-SA T20Is, Rohit Sharma & Co. have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead after a 16-run win in the second and penultimate tie in Guwahati on Sunday (October 02). India will like to continue their winning run and inflict a whitewash over Temba Bavuma & Co. in the final encounter, which will be the national side's last appearance on the 22-yard cricket stripbefore heading into the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, from October 16.