Nothing wrong in exploiting home conditions though Eden pitch would help seamers: Dhoni

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Amid brouhaha over the Eden Gardens pitch, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said today there was nothing wrong in exploiting the home advantage by preparing spin-friendly tracks. India's number one Test tag at stake More... Eden pitch would help seamers: Dhoni IANS Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni looked disappointed at not getting a turning track at the Eden Gardens in the second cricket Test against South Africa when he said a “sporting wicket” did not mean one with grass and bounce for the fast bowlers. “I personally believe there is too much emphasis on sporting wickets. I don’t know whether there is any book, which says sporting wicket means one with grass and bounce for the fast bowlers,” Dhoni said. For the Indian skipper, sporting wicket is one, which challenges the batsmen. “When you have a turning track that’s also a challenge for batsmen,” Dhoni said after inspecting the Eden pitch, which has grass and looks to aid seamers in the initial stages. Dhoni added that each country has pitches of distinct character. “Each country prepares pitches to suit its strengths. You go to South Africa and you get bounce and seam movement, In New Zealand it is swing and pace. And here the ball turns and bounces for the spinners.” Describing the Eden wicket, Dhoni said the grass and the breeze would help the seamers. “I see bit of grass. With the two galleries not there a bit of breeze blows across the field. That will certainly help the seamers.” Four of the galleries have been demolished at the Eden as part of renovation for next year’s World Cup. Asked whether the ball would turn, he shot back: “Not on the first two days for sure. I don’t see much wear and tear. I don’t see much turn on the first two days.” There has been a controversy over the Eden track for the match, with media reports claiming that curator Prabir Mukherjee refused to heed requests from the BCCI to prepare a wicket to suit the Indian spinners. Mukherjee, however, has denied having received any such request. “Why should such a request be made? Cricket is a beautiful game and one should play on a sporting wicket. Why should teams want to play on designer pitches after practising through the year?” However, some of the grass on the wicket has been trimmed over the past few days. “This wicket will be firm and full of bounce. The batsmen and seamers will get help initially. As the match progresses, good spinners will be able to utilise the rough patches to extract turn over the last two days. But the wicket will definitely last full five days,” Mukherjee said.

[S.Bond]

looo, no one is commenting here.... Why is Dhoni criying so loudly loool this guy is a true looser.... Reall guys, india won in suth africa the first test... Why can't they winn here... I think indian players are worrying too much about the pitch...

[saneindian]

looo, no one is commenting here.... Why is Dhoni criying so loudly loool this guy is a true looser.... Reall guys, india won in suth africa the first test... Why can't they winn here... I think indian players are worrying too much about the pitch...

And you sir are the epitome of a troll :finger:

[urbestfriend]

Players should stop worrying about the pitch and concentrate on playing good cricket. These guys are sounding like they have lost the match even before the first ball is bowled.

[azanian]

South Africa is a much better team than India in all departmenrts of the game and the only way for India to beat the Proteas is by food poisoning them

[Guest Hiten.]

South Africa is a much better team than India in all departmenrts of the game and the only way for India to beat the Proteas is by food poisoning them

Such ideas will be only applauded next door, try knocking that. Tampering food, ball and pitch is not our forte :bye:

[asterix]

Nothing wrong, Dhoniji..But who will EXPLOIT? Dart throwers or math teachers?

[gult]

Such ideas will be only applauded next door' date=' try knocking that. Tampering food, ball and pitch is not our forte :bye:[/quote'] :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[Online]

Such ideas will be only applauded next door' date=' try knocking that. Tampering food, ball and pitch is not our forte :bye:[/quote'] respect :two_thumbs_up:

[pappu_kanghi]

looo' date=' no one is commenting here.... [b']Why is Dhoni criying so loudly loool this guy is a true looser.... Reall guys, india won in suth africa the first test... Why can't they winn here... I think indian players are worrying too much about the pitch...

Yeah he is a loser he just lost his first test in 2 years. :( And there is nothing wrong in preparing pitches that suit your bowling. Ofcourse they can prepare a flat pitch and take some lessons on how to bite the ball and exploit the conditions. :)

[urbestfriend]

Dhoni, If you had recognized that this pitch would help seamers, whats the point in going with only 2 seamers? That too one seamer is shyt :nervous: Are you of the opinion that our one seamer would match South Africa's four seamers and we win this match?

[achilles]

The NUMBER ONE team in test cricket needs to doctor pitches to win? Shouldn't the Number 1 team be capable enough to compete on competitive tracks?

[thevortex]

The NUMBER ONE team in test cricket needs to doctor pitches to win? Shouldn't the Number 1 team be capable enough to compete on competitive tracks?

In my opinion that is the wrong tack to approach this. If you want to give visiting teams pitches that play like theirs then what is the point about playing at home? We have got to get out of this mentality that a turning wicket is a bad one. We are Indians, are we not? :)

[DomainK]

The NUMBER ONE team in test cricket needs to doctor pitches to win? Shouldn't the Number 1 team be capable enough to compete on competitive tracks?

In my opinion that is the wrong tack to approach this. If you want to give visiting teams pitches that play like theirs then what is the point about playing at home? We have got to get out of this mentality that a turning wicket is a bad one. We are Indians, are we not? :)

Exactly. Do you expect a turner in Perth when Indian goes to play there? Or did you ever question why Australia (or any other team for that matter) needs doctored pitches to win matches at home? Ever heard the concept that every team is difficult to beat at home? Why do you think that? Every team in the world prepares pitches that suits them. No team ever prepares pitches that suits the visiting team.

[flamy]

In my opinion that is the wrong tack to approach this. If you want to give visiting teams pitches that play like theirs then what is the point about playing at home? We have got to get out of this mentality that a turning wicket is a bad one. We are Indians, are we not? :)

Exactly. Do you expect a turner in Perth when Indian goes to play there? Or did you ever question why Australia (or any other team for that matter) needs doctored pitches to win matches at home? Ever heard the concept that every team is difficult to beat at home? Why do you think that? Every team in the world prepares pitches that suits them. No team ever prepares pitches that suits the visiting team.

:yes::yes::yes::yes::yes::yes::yes::yes:

[Sachinism]

The NUMBER ONE team in test cricket needs to doctor pitches to win? Shouldn't the Number 1 team be capable enough to compete on competitive tracks?

But it was a good move when SA did it. Anyways the posts above provide good reason, read them

[urbestfriend]

In my opinion that is the wrong tack to approach this. If you want to give visiting teams pitches that play like theirs then what is the point about playing at home? We have got to get out of this mentality that a turning wicket is a bad one. We are Indians, are we not? :)

B4 that we should have to get out of this mentality that spin is our strength.

[Sooda]

^Relatively speaking it is- Bhajji and Mishra can be a handful and Indian batsmen do play spin well. Moreover it means the threat of Steyn Morkel and Parnell is reduced

[urbestfriend]

^Relatively speaking it is- Bhajji and Mishra can be a handful and Indian batsmen do play spin well. Moreover it means the threat of Steyn Morkel and Parnell is reduced

A track can start turning and assisting spinners after some wear and tear , so it takes at least 3 days of cricket. No proper cricket pitch can start spinning from day one without the help of soil underneath..! We always makes a mistake of preparing slow , bounce less tracks which starts turning from day . It works when we bat first, but when opposition bats first we'll be in back foot as our spinners are effectively uselss. Compare this to tracks with some bounce, our seamers and Bhajji enjoys bounce so we can put pressure on opposition even if they bat first.

[Gunner_Mania]

B4 that we should have to get out of this mentality that spin is our strength.

Spin may not be our greatest strength at the mo, but it definitely is a weakness of the Proteas. Harbhajan & Mishra - even if they have been poor over the last year - will still be a handful on turning tracks.