Pitch battle breaks out in Pune

‘‘It’s the groundsmen who do the hard work and know the nitty-gritty of the job. The groundsmen should be given a free hand since curators only ‘confuse’ them’’, Parsana told The Indian Express.

His views were backed up by Maharashtra Cricket Association chief Ajay Shirke. ‘‘A curator is not necessary. Let me tell you, there’s no ‘trained’ curator in the country. Curators are trained professionals like doctors, engineers…But, here, people with experience are managing the job.’’

Sundaram doesn’t agree with the assessment. ‘‘The Maharashtra Cricket Association has to take this decision but the BCCI feels that a curator — and there are trained curators in India — should prepare an ODI pitch because there are many technicalities involved with the job. (Chandu) Borde did the job last time, if he wasn’t available it should have been given to somebody else.’’

Last year, the MCA had named its curator — Borde — well before the season began. This year, Borde says, he hasn’t been informed. ‘‘I’ll be delighted to prepare the pitch, and I’m ready for it. The last wicket — for the New Zealand-Australia ODI — that I prepared was praised by everybody.’’

One last question: What is the division of work between groundsman and curator? ‘‘Groundsmen have their limitations’’, Borde replied. ‘‘They cannot replace curators and vice versa. Their job is to cut and roll but the curator decides the proportion of grass and how much and which way the roller has to be rolled.’’