Wednesday turned out to be a real panvati day for Zimbabwean match referee Andy Pycroft as he landed in India to officiate in India's Test series against South Africa.
Wednesday turned out to be a real panvati day for Zimbabwean match referee Andy Pycroft as he landed in India to officiate in India's Test series against South Africa. The forlorn look on his face as he waited to collect his baggage at Nagpur airport said it all.
Pycroft's horrific day started when he reached Mumbai's international airport from Dubai. There was a three-and-a-half-hour gap between his connecting flight to Nagpur.
Match officials are normally booked by the hosts in comfortable hotels to allow them to freshen up. But to Pycroft's anguish, he had to kill time at Mumbai's domestic airport.
Stranded at airport"I came from Dubai, so the flight was only two and a half hours, but I spent four hours at the Mumbai airport," said Pycroft, the sarcasm in his voice couldn't be missed. "There was no one to help."
So, how did he travel from the international to domestic airport? "I took the airport shuttle," he said.
What made the situation worse for him was that he was not allowed entry in the business lounge. Pycroft's woes were a result of some miscommunication.
The air was cleared by an apologetic Indian board official (from Tamil Nadu Cricket Association), a liaison officer for umpires and the match referee.
The former Zimbabwe player is not the sort of bloke who would create a scene. He graciously accepted the apology from the cricket official and went about planning for the next day.
