CHENNAI: When India played their last international match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in December, the pitch wasn't at its best with the spinners calling the shots right from the start.
Two months have passed, the stadium looks swankier than ever, but there are still a few question marks that are being raised about the pitch. The practice match that was played on Saturday between South Africa and Zimbabwe didn't see a deluge or runs and the winning skipper Graeme Smith raised doubts about the quality of the pitch.
Though he didn't mean to be "too harsh on the curators", Smith said that he was a little disappointed with the pitch that was on offer. "The pitch looked a little underprepared. The subcontinent pitches are much better than this," Smith said at the end of the match.
That was precisely the reason why he didn't even go gaga over the performances of his spinners Imran Tahir, Robin Peterson and Johan Botha. "They were OK, but I think the pitch suited them more," Smith said.
The TNCA curator K Parthasarathy, though, vehemently opposed that the pitch was underprepared. "We had left a little bit of grass and that's why the pitch was keeping a little low. You cannot term a wicket underprepared because of that," Parthasarathy told TOI.
South Africa are supposed to play one of their key matches — against England — on March 6 on the same track and that is probably the reason why Smith is a little worried. Though Smith didn't say that in as many words, he felt that there will be wear and tear on the pitch over the next one month. "As more games are played, the pitch is bound to take a beating. Let's see how it shapes up over the next few days," Smith said.
However, the TNCA authorities informed that the World Cup games won't be played on the pitch where Saturday's practice match was played. "It was just a practice match and we cannot allow our best pitch for such a game. Moreover, there was no television coverage either," a senior TNCA official said. It was also told that India's practice game against New Zealand will be played on a different pitch.
On Saturday, Zimbabwe had managed only 152 runs on the track and South Africa ran away with the game in 24 overs. It was evident from Smith's words that he was looking for a better contest than that.
"The wicket was pretty slow and dead. I hope it's better prepared for the World Cup proper as coming to those games the wickets will get a lot more attention," the South African skipper added.
The TNCA officials countered smith by saying that "the pitches have been made with a lot of care and unless there's an official complaint either from the teams or from the match referee, they are just not bothered".
TOI
Two months have passed, the stadium looks swankier than ever, but there are still a few question marks that are being raised about the pitch. The practice match that was played on Saturday between South Africa and Zimbabwe didn't see a deluge or runs and the winning skipper Graeme Smith raised doubts about the quality of the pitch.
Though he didn't mean to be "too harsh on the curators", Smith said that he was a little disappointed with the pitch that was on offer. "The pitch looked a little underprepared. The subcontinent pitches are much better than this," Smith said at the end of the match.
That was precisely the reason why he didn't even go gaga over the performances of his spinners Imran Tahir, Robin Peterson and Johan Botha. "They were OK, but I think the pitch suited them more," Smith said.
The TNCA curator K Parthasarathy, though, vehemently opposed that the pitch was underprepared. "We had left a little bit of grass and that's why the pitch was keeping a little low. You cannot term a wicket underprepared because of that," Parthasarathy told TOI.
South Africa are supposed to play one of their key matches — against England — on March 6 on the same track and that is probably the reason why Smith is a little worried. Though Smith didn't say that in as many words, he felt that there will be wear and tear on the pitch over the next one month. "As more games are played, the pitch is bound to take a beating. Let's see how it shapes up over the next few days," Smith said.
However, the TNCA authorities informed that the World Cup games won't be played on the pitch where Saturday's practice match was played. "It was just a practice match and we cannot allow our best pitch for such a game. Moreover, there was no television coverage either," a senior TNCA official said. It was also told that India's practice game against New Zealand will be played on a different pitch.
On Saturday, Zimbabwe had managed only 152 runs on the track and South Africa ran away with the game in 24 overs. It was evident from Smith's words that he was looking for a better contest than that.
"The wicket was pretty slow and dead. I hope it's better prepared for the World Cup proper as coming to those games the wickets will get a lot more attention," the South African skipper added.
The TNCA officials countered smith by saying that "the pitches have been made with a lot of care and unless there's an official complaint either from the teams or from the match referee, they are just not bothered".
TOI
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