By: Sandipan Bose
Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin may not get a rank turner at the Eden Gardens, the venue for the second Test against New Zealand.
On a relayed pitch, the Cricket Association of Bengal has detested the idea of having a bald wicket for the big game. The Eden pitch would have a slight tinge of green to avoid the turf from becoming a dust bowl.
The Indian team doesn’t mind the idea of not having a bald wicket. With a Test win in Kanpur, the message from the Indian team is also clear. If you good enough, go out there and get the batsmen out.
Even head coach, Anil Kumble, has given clear indication that he does’t like a pitch, which turns square from Day 1. His idea of a good Indian pitch means offering help to all departments of the game.
The only difficult bit about the series is the premature start to the cricket season. In a place like Kolkata where big matches are never played before the Bengalis’ Durga Puja festival.
This is first of its kind that a big match is played out in Kolkata right at the fag end of the monsoon. Therefore, there are also murmurs about how the curators didn’t find enough time for the pitch preparation.
In the end, it’s a part and parcel of the game. Even questioned were raised when BCCI organised the Duleep Trophy in the month of August when monsoon fails to recede.
Still, everything went off well. All the apprehension surrounding the Kolkata pitch will also rest when the game begins from Friday!
