B-grade performance from India 145;A146; team

If this three-day match between Board President8217;s XI and the visiting West Indies proved anything, it was that Kasturirangan and his BCCI pitches committee cannot be trusted to come up with a pitch that can do justice to a game of this stature. The sooner the comittee members put in their papers the better for Indian cricket.

The low-bounce KSCA Stadium pitch, supposedly re-laid by this 8216;expert8217; committee at the instance of BCCI which wanted a few sporting pitches in the country, came up with a disgraceful pitch that reduced the bunch of India hopeful bowlers to a motley crowd of no-hopers. Even as late as on day three it accommodated spin only slowly. The Board bowlers, already nothing much to write home about, thus struggled to trouble even tail-end batsmen. Barring skipper Carl Hooper who came up with an entertaining knock of 67 off just 73 deliveries , the other West Indies batsmen were on 8216;8216;a mission8217;8217; 8212; to get a hang of Indian conditions.

Brief scores: Board President8217;s XI 1st innings: 275/8 decl; West Indies 1st innings 606/4 decl.