India attempt to flatten out a problem area on the pitch during Day 2 of the Cape Town Test on left and Former cricketer Clive H Llyod speaks after receiving a lifetime achievement award during an event, in Kolkata on right. (Agencies)The 2nd Test between India and South Africa is the shortest Test recorded in terms of the number of overs bowled in the game. India won the game by seven wickets on day 2. The pitch sparked a lot of debate in the cricketing circles about whether these sorts of pitches are good for the health of Test cricket.
ICC has rated the pitch provided as “unsatisfactory.” However, former West Indian cricketer Clive Lloyd said, “If you are playing top-class cricket, you should be able to handle those sort of things,” during an interaction with the media after receiving the Lifetime Achievement award from Adamas University of Kolkata in Kolkata.
“I do not think anything was wrong with the pitch. Somebody made a hundred on that same pitch, on a wearing pitch, so I think it is just an application,” he added.
“The pitch in Newlands was very difficult to bat on,” ICC Match Referee Chris Broad, who gave a rating to the pitch, said. “The ball bounced quickly and sometimes alarmingly throughout the match, making it difficult to play shots. Several batters were hit on the gloves, and many wickets also fell due to the awkward bounce,” he added.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, said he was happy with the Cape Town pitch as long as there were no double standards applied when teams play on turning tracks in India. “In India, when it turns on day one, people say, ‘Oh, there is a puff of dust’. We need to stay neutral, especially match referees, he said in the aftermath of the game.
Supporting Rohit’s claim on a discrepancy on how pitches are viewed in India and other places, Llyod said, “And I am wondering if that had happened in India, with what they would have done to the ground persons. Because if you lose in a day and a bit, the first thing they will look at is the pitch. India had a turning pitch here the other day, and everybody said some terrible things about the pitch. “
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