The Adelaide Oval ground that is hosting the second Test of the BGT 2024 between Australia and India saw a huge gaffe when floodlights were switched off, twice, in the ongoing pink-ball, day-night Test.
The LED floodlights installed in 2023 at the cost of over $5 million, got switched off twice when Australia was batting late on day one in Adelaide. In the wake of the controversy, Cricket Australia issued a statement acknowledging the issue: “We had a brief internal switching issue that was quickly identified and rectified.”
The light failure, initially seen as a technical glitch, was later revealed to be the result of human error.
According to The Age, the incident occurred after the Australian team requested that net lights be switched on for a nighttime training session. As Australia's top order faced a disciplined Indian bowling attack, ground officials accidentally turned off the stadium's four major light towers rather than activating the net lights.
The first halt happened during Australia's 18th over, resulting in a 25-second wait. However, just as play resumed, the error was repeated, resulting in an 86-second delay. The twin disaster left players visibly agitated, while commentators questioned the effectiveness of the newly installed lighting system.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma, spinner Harshit Rana, and Australian batsmen Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne were among those kept waiting on the field amid the unexpected power outage.
The second incident, which occurred immediately after the first, worsened the situation, keeping players and fans in the dark for more than a minute.
The uncertainty in the ground control room, located atop the Western Stand, was underscored by sources who revealed that when the computerized light settings were modified to turn on the net lights for a throwdown session, the stadium lights were accidentally turned off instead.
“They went out to turn on the net lights so the night watchman could have a couple of throwdowns, and somehow either turned them to the wrong thing or something tripped,” The Age report stated.
(IANS inputs)
