IndiGo effect: Umpire misses first session of Cooch Behar Trophy match due to flight delay

The IndiGo crisis continues to hurt India’s domestic cricket. While several flight cancellations forced the age-group teams to reach their respective destinations by bus for the Cooch Behar Trophy and the Vijay Merchant Trophy, the match officials, too, suffered.

As Bengal took on Goa in a Cooch Behar Trophy match at the Bengal Cricket Academy ground in Kalyani on Monday, on-field umpire Nitin Pandit missed out on the first session as his flight to Kolkata was delayed. By the time Pandit, a seasoned umpire, reached Kalyani from Kolkata in a car, lunch was taken for Day One.

Until then, the on-field duties were handled by Prakash Kumar. To help him, a local umpire stepped in for the opening session, before Pandit joined in post-lunch.

As first reported by Sportstar, the Bengal team reached Kalyani from Bhilai in the early hours of Sunday, after a 30-hour-long bus journey from Bhilai. Even though the Board had made a provision of giving a ‘buffer’ to teams arriving late, it was mutually agreed upon by both the teams that the match will go ahead as per original schedule.

While match referee V Narayanan Kutty and other staff were at the venue on time, Pandit could not make it to Kalyani as per schedule as his flight to Kolkata was delayed for long. But once it was confirmed that he would be able to reach Kalyani, about three hours away from Kolkata, around lunch, it was decided that the match would go ahead.

“These are difficult times in terms of logistics. Even though the situation is slowly improving, it is still not in perfect shape, and that’s why there are some challenges. But we are trying to ensure that the tournaments go ahead as per schedule,” a BCCI official said, confirming the development in Kalyani.

The 50-year-old Pandit is a seasoned umpire, who has officiated more than 200 domestic games, across formats, along with six WT20Is, two WODIs and a lone Women’s Test. 

While most matches of the Cooch Behar Trophy got underway on Monday, the clash between Odisha and Karnataka in Balangir was rescheduled to Tuesday after teams reached late due to flight issues. 

Published on Dec 09, 2025