22-yards turns brown from green in 24 hrs

The story of Nagpur is in the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) pitch. It starts with the Aussies arriving, surprisingly being welcomed by ...

The story of Nagpur is in the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) pitch. It starts with the Aussies arriving, surprisingly being welcomed by a greentop. Enter Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who has a short chat with the Nagpur pitchmen. And then it ends with, as is most likely, the match eventually starting on a wicket not too different from the ones in Bangalore and Chennai.

Glenn McGrath was among the first to check out the pitch and the mean fast bowler — playing his 100th Test — expressed happiness with the 22-yard strip immediately. ‘‘It has plenty of grass which is a bit of a surprise in India. But I don’t think the wicket will provide the same pace or bounce like the Australian wickets. It, however, certainly looks better for fast bowlers that what we had seen at Bangalore and Chennai,’’ McGrath said.

McGrath was — in effect — conveying the mood in the Australian camp ahead of the third Test, and a lot of it had to do with the wicket.

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The entire VCA ground was dug up some time back and relaid with the Bermuda Hybrid grass variety as part of the BCCI nationwide drive to prepare non-Indian sporting wickets. Pride in having prepared a fair greentop is what had VCA president Shashank Manohar and curator Kishore Pradhan talking tough, reportedly saying they won’t shave off the grass for anything. Not much cricket has been played here since, and no one is very certain how the pitch will play.

But it took Ganguly very little time and persuasion to have Pradhan singing a different tune. Pradhan told us, ‘‘He (Sourav) explained to me the difference between the Indian and Australian teams and their respective strengths and weaknesses. As also the position of the series. And he requested me to shave off the grass one last time.’’

And on ‘‘Sourav’s request’’ said Pradhan, he will now mow the new grass to ‘‘whatever extent possible’’. ‘‘I would have done one last mowing in any case, but his request convinced me. Till the mud beneath doesn’t get caught in the machine, we will continue. I will not let the wicket break, it will remain a sporting wicket,’’ insisted Pradhan even as he tried to explain that he has come under no pressure from any quarter.

Indian coach John Wright, meanwhile, did acknowledge the sporting appearance of the pitch, saying it was a ‘‘good batting wicket’’. ‘‘It will be similar to jute (matting) wickets and help pace bowlers and the batsmen. I would be most happy with a score of 250-6 or 8 on Day One,’’ Wright said. This was, of course, before Pradhan went trudging back to the middle with his mower.

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How different will it look on Monday? ‘‘It will look different. Come tomorrow and see for yourself,’’ was Pradhan’s reply.