Ganguly-BCCI spat queers the pitch

The dull draw in the first India-New Zealand Test at Motera has triggered a ‘pitch battle’ of sorts in the host camp. While Indian...

The dull draw in the first India-New Zealand Test at Motera has triggered a ‘pitch battle’ of sorts in the host camp. While Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly backed his bowlers and blamed the pitch for the missed victory, those in charge of preparing the 22-yard track are stoutly defending it.

While Ganguly called the track ‘dead’ and questioned the BCCI over its responsibility in preparing the right kind of wicket for a Test match, the chairman of the pitches committee Venkat Sundaram while talking to The Indian Express said he was ‘‘overall satisfied’’ with the behaviour of the playing surface which lasted five days.


The Motera pitch: Dead or alive?

A visibly upset Indian skipper after the game told the media that, ‘‘The BCCI have their own responsibility to see how wickets are prepared but they haven’t done so. I don’t know what to say.’’

Venkat didn’t quite agree with Ganguly. ‘‘One must understand that it is for the first time in the country we have given a wicket with so much grass-cover. It was a well-prepared wicket.

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The earlier Indian image of doctored wickets are over,’’ said pitch expert.

But Ganguly’s assesment of the pitch was totally different. ‘‘The bowlers bowled their hearts out but it was a flat wicket. The pitch got slower and slower and there was not much help for any of them though they tried very hard.’’

Emphasising his point the skipper lauded young pace bowler L Balaji.

‘‘For a debutant, Balaji bowled magnificently on a dead wicket. It was a lion-hearted performance by the youngster,’’ he said.

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Venkat had a counter argument. ‘‘If the home team failed to win the game, don’t blame the wicket. You have to look for answers elsewhere.’’

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