Two bowlers have been called for chucking in the East Zone leg of the national T20 tournament being held here but there is no video evidence of the deliveries because the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) does’nt record these matches.

“T20 matches are not recorded,” was BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty’s explanation though the BCCI had earlier said it would record all domestic matches from this season.

BCCI game development manager Stanley Saldanha cited shortage of equipment and manpower when asked about the Board’s failure to install cameras at the grounds here. “Right now a lot of games, including junior and women’s matches, are taking place simultaneously. There is a shortage of equipment and qualified people,” Saldanha said.

The BCCI had even posted umpires’ coaches for this tournament before cancelling their appointments at the last minute when it became apparent that the matches wouldn’t be recorded. The umpires’ coaches monitor the umpiring standard at each game by looking at the video recordings.

Usually six cameras are installed, two above the sightscreens looking straight down the wicket and four parallel to the popping crease from both sides.

The umpires’ coaches can judge run-out decisions as well as, to a certain extent, leg-before decisions.

The other important task of the umpires’ coaches is to see if the umpires are following the new BCCI rule that has made it mandatory for them to call chuckers on the field of play.

“If a bowler is called and he or his captain disputes the decision, the video evidence can be used to see who is right,” a former umpire said.

The umpires here have still been brave enough to call Assam off-spinner Arlen Konwar (in Wednesday’s match against Bengal) and Tripura’s left-arm orthodox spinner Debbhakta Jamatia (vs Assam the next day) for chucking.

These incidents should be mentioned in the reports filed by the umpires and the match referees, but there will be no other evidence for the scrutinising committee comprising S. Venkatraghavan, A. V. Jaiprakash and Javagal

Srinath. “We have our own way of dealing with such situation but that is not for public consumption,” Shetty said.

However, the absence of cameras is not helping BCCI’s twin aim of improving umpiring standards and chucking out the chuckers.