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| Will we ever see this scene on Indian wickets? |
Raju Korti
Before I dwell on the pivotal issue in this blog, let me bring to you a flashback of 1971 summer when a casting vote coup by then Chairman of Indian Selectors Vijay Merchant catapulted stylish and elegant left hander Ajit Wadekar as the skipper of the team to tour West Indies . Merchant’s master-stroke, among other things caused – no less – to roll the head of the incumbent skipper Nawab of Pataudi. But that of course is peripheral to the issue.
The first among the volley of questions thrown at Wadekar by a charged media was did the Indians have a game plan to tackle the battery of West Indian fast bowlers on the bouncy tracks there. Wadekar’s riposte was brilliant: Good batsmen are never afraid of good bowlers or bad pitches. As it turned out, Wadekar and his men made history winning against the mighty West Indians led by the indomitable Garry Sobers. The series was dominated by old warhorse Dilip Sardesai and the new batting sensation Sunil Gavaskar.
The West Indian pitches and then the subsequent ones in the series againstEngland showed India
Contrast this against the stink raised by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Vice President Niranjan Shah a few days back when he let lose a verbal fussilade against the Eden Gardens Curator Prabir Mukherjee for defying Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s clear hint of preparing a turning track for the recent Kolkata Test.
Mukherjee got Shah’s goat for speaking out his mind to the media, terming it as a breach of code of conduct. Given BCCI track record of muzzling the players’ and officials’ voices, Shah’s outburst wasn’t surprising in the least. The BCCI in its infinite wisdom has rarely been sporting and still hasn’t come to appreciate the need for transparency. Often, its decisions, taken behind closed doors, are merely conveyed to the public, rationale be damned.
Mukherjee, a weather-beaten veteran of his craft, wasn’t amused when Dhoni brazenly declared that the Indians would be more than happy to have a spinning track to checkmate the Englishmen sensitized to fast tracks. Now it is old hat that the home team asks for pitches that suits its conditions. So it is not as if Dhoni committed a grave sin. He did what his predecessors did all along. Don’t the overseas players delight in the discomfiture of the Indian batsmen when they take their crease on their pitches?
Mukherjee was miffed and rightly so, that a seasoned curator like him was virtually ordered to do so. Anyone with a right cricketing sense will concede Mukherjee’s point.
Why do the Indians fight shy of playing on fast pitches? And why does it have to be a tit for tat elsewhere in the world. Can we not have a semblance of cricketing wisdom that ensures there are sporting pitches consistently all over. For one, it will keep the Test Cricket – which is the real cricket – alive. The shorter version of the game with its Wham Bang Thank You approach is now losing its excitement and sheen with its overkill.
Every time Indian teams go to England, Australia or South Africa to be haunted by those short-pitched deliveries, come back more determined than ever to give the overseas teams a dose of their own medicine by opting for a dusty, spinners’ paradise. Recall how Matthew Hayden had turned the 2004 Wankhede pitch in Mumbai as a “candy bar”.
Of course, by all means have a turning track when the overseas teams come here, but why shy away from preparing fast and bouncy tracks for the upcoming players during the domestic matches? If the diminutive Viswanath could caress a Jeff Thomson’s 150 Kmph delivery with a late cut, what stops the likes of Kohli and Gambhir from displaying similar panache? A far cry from the days of Nari Contractor felled by an express delivery from Charlie Griffith during the 1962 series in the Carribean. Since then, all debates and discussions on having sporting pitches in the country were quietly buried.
Fifty years later, the Indian paranoia to have turning wickets continues. Remember how even an accomplished batsman like Sourav Ganguly walked out huffing and puffing when he saw the lush green pitch atNagpur
Let’s get back to what Mukherjee said: “It is unethical to tamper with the pitch as per the liking of the captain. I have not done it in my life. Why should I do it now? What happens if the pitch does not last for five days? Let them give me in writing then I will do it.”
Mukherjee faced flak for defying the Board speaking in Dhoni’s voice. The breach of code was just a specious excuse. But such deep rooted are the Indian fears that far from standing by his side, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), turned against him.
Quite possible the Indians may bounce back to win the Mumbai Test, but the fact will remain that Cook cooked the Indian goose on its own soil.
The Englishmen have certainly queered the pitch for the Indians, never mind the pompous 3-0 rout the latter kept dreaming of.
The first among the volley of questions thrown at Wadekar by a charged media was did the Indians have a game plan to tackle the battery of West Indian fast bowlers on the bouncy tracks there. Wadekar’s riposte was brilliant: Good batsmen are never afraid of good bowlers or bad pitches. As it turned out, Wadekar and his men made history winning against the mighty West Indians led by the indomitable Garry Sobers. The series was dominated by old warhorse Dilip Sardesai and the new batting sensation Sunil Gavaskar.
The West Indian pitches and then the subsequent ones in the series against
Contrast this against the stink raised by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Vice President Niranjan Shah a few days back when he let lose a verbal fussilade against the Eden Gardens Curator Prabir Mukherjee for defying Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s clear hint of preparing a turning track for the recent Kolkata Test.
Mukherjee got Shah’s goat for speaking out his mind to the media, terming it as a breach of code of conduct. Given BCCI track record of muzzling the players’ and officials’ voices, Shah’s outburst wasn’t surprising in the least. The BCCI in its infinite wisdom has rarely been sporting and still hasn’t come to appreciate the need for transparency. Often, its decisions, taken behind closed doors, are merely conveyed to the public, rationale be damned.
Mukherjee, a weather-beaten veteran of his craft, wasn’t amused when Dhoni brazenly declared that the Indians would be more than happy to have a spinning track to checkmate the Englishmen sensitized to fast tracks. Now it is old hat that the home team asks for pitches that suits its conditions. So it is not as if Dhoni committed a grave sin. He did what his predecessors did all along. Don’t the overseas players delight in the discomfiture of the Indian batsmen when they take their crease on their pitches?
Mukherjee was miffed and rightly so, that a seasoned curator like him was virtually ordered to do so. Anyone with a right cricketing sense will concede Mukherjee’s point.
Why do the Indians fight shy of playing on fast pitches? And why does it have to be a tit for tat elsewhere in the world. Can we not have a semblance of cricketing wisdom that ensures there are sporting pitches consistently all over. For one, it will keep the Test Cricket – which is the real cricket – alive. The shorter version of the game with its Wham Bang Thank You approach is now losing its excitement and sheen with its overkill.
Every time Indian teams go to England, Australia or South Africa to be haunted by those short-pitched deliveries, come back more determined than ever to give the overseas teams a dose of their own medicine by opting for a dusty, spinners’ paradise. Recall how Matthew Hayden had turned the 2004 Wankhede pitch in Mumbai as a “candy bar”.
Of course, by all means have a turning track when the overseas teams come here, but why shy away from preparing fast and bouncy tracks for the upcoming players during the domestic matches? If the diminutive Viswanath could caress a Jeff Thomson’s 150 Kmph delivery with a late cut, what stops the likes of Kohli and Gambhir from displaying similar panache? A far cry from the days of Nari Contractor felled by an express delivery from Charlie Griffith during the 1962 series in the Carribean. Since then, all debates and discussions on having sporting pitches in the country were quietly buried.
Fifty years later, the Indian paranoia to have turning wickets continues. Remember how even an accomplished batsman like Sourav Ganguly walked out huffing and puffing when he saw the lush green pitch at
Let’s get back to what Mukherjee said: “It is unethical to tamper with the pitch as per the liking of the captain. I have not done it in my life. Why should I do it now? What happens if the pitch does not last for five days? Let them give me in writing then I will do it.”
Mukherjee faced flak for defying the Board speaking in Dhoni’s voice. The breach of code was just a specious excuse. But such deep rooted are the Indian fears that far from standing by his side, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), turned against him.
Quite possible the Indians may bounce back to win the Mumbai Test, but the fact will remain that Cook cooked the Indian goose on its own soil.
The Englishmen have certainly queered the pitch for the Indians, never mind the pompous 3-0 rout the latter kept dreaming of.
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