Pacer-friendly wicket at Eden

A rock-hard Eden Gardens pitch will offer pace and bounce when South Africa play Ireland on Tuesday. “It will help both spinners as well as pacers. But there will not be any lateral movement,so batsmen will benefit too if they are careful with their shot selection,” Mukherjee said.

The curator believes that the wicket will play well right through the match. “This will be the best wicket in this tournament. Both teams will be happy to play on this wicket,” Mukherjee proclaimed.

On Tuesday the Eden Gardens will host its first World Cup game since the India-Sri Lanka semifinal that ended in tears for Vinod Kambli and heartbreak for the thousands,who created crowd trouble that led to the match being called off in 1996.

Mukherjee is relieved that India isn’t playing here after all.

“Last year,ahead of the India-South Africa Test,the Indian team management requested me to shave off the grass. I flatly rejected. Then a very senior member of the team asked me to reconsider the decision,but I refused to oblige. The match lasted the distance and India won in the penultimate over on the fifth day. So,the idea has always been to prepare a proper cricket wicket and I am happy that there’s no pressure on me in this regard,” Mukherjee said.