Team India did a neat job of defeating West Indies in the first Test on Friday, but bowled a googly on the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).





The Indian players celebrated the innings and 51-run win with gusto but the CAB officials did not seem as ecstatic as they would have been on any other day. The CAB’s best-laid plans had just been scuttled due to the West Indies losing on the third day of the five-day match.



The CAB had a series of events planned to mark the first Test, which was also Sachin Tendulkar’s 199th and penultimate match. Among the events in CAB’s grand plans, the grandest was probably to shower 199 kg of rose petals on Sachin from an aircraft as 11 cricketing legends, including Brian Lara, Vivian Richards, Shane Warne and Sunil Gavaskar, felicitated him on the ground.



According to sources, the rose petals were to be showered from three specially hired aircraft on the last day of the match, with the event lasting 20 minutes.



The CAB joint secretary Subir Ganguly told reporters they had booked the aircraft and taken permission from the Air Traffic Control (ATC) for both Saturday and Sunday. “We couldn’t have foreseen that the match would dramatically end on the third day. We had only an hour to make the arrangements, but it was not possible to get the ATC’s permission at such short notice even if we could have arranged for the aircraft and the flowers,” he said.



Sources added that the whole arrangement surrounding the rose petals have cost the CAB Rs 14 lakh, as the roses had to be organised from Bangalore; they would have no takers now. The rental for the aircraft also has been a loss, as it had been paid in advance, admitted an official.



The showering of petals was also to be witnessed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who made her own plans to felicitate the cricket legend. She had to rush to Eden to meet Sachin on Friday, having rescheduled some official work. She was called up after West Indies lost their eighth wicket, and she readily agreed to come to the Eden Gardens, Ganguly told reporters. She was busy addressing issues related to hoarding and black-marketing of potatoes, which has become a major issue in Bengal.



Banerjee, who had kept her gifts a secret from everybody, presented Sachin with one of her paintings, besides the customary shawl, flowers and specially made sweets.