"Every board has got money to buy these covers to cover the entire ground" - Sunil Gavaskar furious after 1st India-South Africa T20I gets washed out

Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was left fuming after rain washed out the entire first T20I of the three-match series between India and South Africa at Durban on December 10.

His frustrations stemmed from the entire ground not being covered, leaving a possibility of further delays even if the rains stopped. The umpires waited patiently for over two hours after the toss time before calling off the game owing to the wet conditions.

Speaking to Star Sports, Gavaskar was unimpressed by the South African board opting not to cover the entire ground, so that play could start once the rain eased off.

"If the ground remains uncovered and the rain stops, you know it doesn't start for another one hour. Suddenly it rains again. So there's no play whatsoever. Everybody (cricket boards) is getting a lot of money. Let's make no mistake. All the cricket boards have got plenty of money. If they say they don't, they are lying. They might not have as much money as the BCCI. Fair enough. But every board has got money to buy these covers to cover the entire ground," said Gavaskar.

Gavaskar provided a similar example from the 2019 World Cup, where similar incidents led to several matches being abandoned.

"So many World Cup matches in England (2019) did not take place because the ground was not covered. The rain had stopped, but the rest of the ground was, you know, wet. So a lot of teams lost points. South Africa. I remember that they wanted to play against some team and the match didn't take place or something had happened, mainly because the outfield was wet," added Gavaskar.

The 2019 World Cup saw four matches being abandoned due to rain- the Pakistan-Sri Lanka, South Africa-West Indies, Bangladesh-Sri Lanka, and India-New Zealand clashes.

Apart from these, the results of a few other games were determined by the D/L method due to showers, including the India-New Zealand semi-final which required two days for completion.

Sourav Ganguly made sure that nobody could point the finger at Eden Gardens - Sunil Gavaskar

The Eden Gardens is fully covered during rain.

Sunil Gavaskar praised former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly for his initiative in having the entire Eden Gardens ground covered during rain interruptions.

Serving as the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and later for the BCCI, Ganguly was noteworthy for several such progressive moves during his tenure.

"What the boards need to do now is to cover the entire ground. Let's have no excuse. I remember I think there was one Test match at Eden Gardens called where there was some problem at the game didn't start. Next game, Eden Gardens had the entire ground covered of. That is the kind of initiative that you want to have. Sourav Ganguly was the man in charge and he made sure that nobody could point the finger at Eden Gardens," said Gavaskar.

Currently the director of cricket for the Delhi Capitals (DC), Ganguly led India in 49 Tests and 146 ODIs between 1999 and 2005. The Indian team achieved tremendous success under him, jointly winning the 2002 Champions Trophy and reaching the final of the 2003 ODI World Cup.

Coming back to the present, Team India will take on South Africa in the second T20I at Gqeberha on Tuesday, December 12.