Dhoni and Harbhajan unhappy with nature of Indian pitches

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni came down heavily on the kind of wickets prepared for the series against New Zealand, after the second Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium ended in a draw on Tuesday. More... Dhoni unhappy with nature of Indian pitches 16 November 2010 Hyderabad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni came down heavily on the kind of wickets prepared for the series against New Zealand, after the second Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium ended in a draw on Tuesday. "If these are the kind of wickets we play on, then, maybe, we will need 10 days to force a result," Dhoni said when asked what India should do to force a result. "There was not much for the bowlers. That is why, I think, they did what they could to the best of their abilities," the India skipper added. On a track that never behaved like a fifth-day wicket, it was always going to be difficult for the Indian bowlers to dismiss the six New Zealand batsmen in quick time, but what made their task a Herculean one was Zaheer Khan's absence from the field. The seamer bowled just three overs before going off the field due to injury. "Whatever may be the track, Zaheer has always given us wickets. Without him it was a little tough. And the wicket made it tougher," Dhoni said. Asked about the seriousness of Zaheer's injury Dhoni said, "It is a groin problem as far as I know. Now, how serious it is it is more of a preventive measure. We didn't want to strain or push him as that might aggravate the injury and we might lose him for a longer period. Questioned on the option of playing with five bowlers taking into account Harbhajan Singh's ability to use the willow to good effect, Dhoni said, "Playing with five bowlers is a tough call. We are always happy playing four bowlers. Also, putting extra responsibility on Bhajji to score runs won't be fair as it would increase the pressure on him. But it is an option which we can consider according to the situation." On the match as a whole the India skipper said, "Both teams played well and the wicket supported the batsmen. We thought that the first hour(on the fifth day) would be crucial. Zaheer bowled a couple of overs before the new ball was taken." Indian captains have, in the past, got pitches, mostly turners, that suited their teams but Dhoni, in that sense, has been an exception. Citing the pitch here, Dhoni said, "It's a tough one. Hyderabad wicket was always known to be a batsmen-friendly one (it has produced many high-scoring ODIs and T20 matches in the past). It's tough to change the nature of wicket overnight." "Against Sri Lanka in 2007 in Ahmedabad, then Kanpur I think, and we were getting some assistance at the CCI (Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai) in the morning session; otherwise most of the matches have played on wickets that's more on the flatter side," Dhoni said referring to the changing trend of pitches in India.

[fineleg]

other countries prepare pitches that suit their bowlers. why wont india!? :dontknow: BCCI and curators :fail:

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Killing Test cricket one bowler at a time Who'd be a bowler? And who'd go to a Test match anywhere near the subcontinent? More... Killing Test cricket one bowler at a time 17/11/2010 Murray Brust Who'd be a bowler? And who'd go to a Test match anywhere near the subcontinent? And, most importantly, who's going to take responsibility for making Test cricket more irrelevant by the day? Surely the lot of a bowler is hard enough, with far greater wear and tear on the body than batsmen and people calling for your head if you don't take wickets for all of two matches in a row, without being completely stymied by being asked to run in repeatedly, hurl the red leather projectile in the direction of the man standing 22 yards away, and get nothing back? Why reward the best bowlers in the world for making it to the top of the game with pitches that offer them nothing, from day one through day five? On Monday there were three Test matches in progress, two into the third innings and one just starting. The combined wickets-to-runs ratio for the innings in progress was four for nearly 800! In Kanpur, lowly New Zealand was one for about 170 in its second innings against the might of India, at Dubai Sports City, South Africa was battling along at two for 300-odd against Pakistan, while at Galle, the Gayle-led West Indies had racked up a measly 300-odd themselves, with only one wicket down, against Sri Lanka. Let's just be clear here: India is the number 1 ranked Test nation and is hosting the number 8 team, New Zealand. The Black Caps just lost a one-day series to Bangladesh 4-0. And now they can't get a result over five days of play - twice. The only noteworthy thing that has happened in the first two matches of their three-Test series is that Indian bowler Harbhajan Singh has become the first number eight batsman to score centuries in back-to-back Tests. It's a wonderful achievement by one of the game's great characters but it's not exactly an advertisement for the thrills of Test cricket while at the same time speaking volumes about the impotence of bowlers on these pitches. Meanwhile Chris Gayle was on his way to 333 against Sri Lanka at Galle. Suraj Randiv, in particular, would have been thrilled to have been given 48 overs, allowing him to grab three wickets - at a cost of 183 runs. Everyone knows how entertaining Gayle can be on his day, but do you really want to watch him bat for two days? Most importantly do you really want to watch a one-sided contest - or, more accurately, no contest - where the man with the ball in his hand is doing little more than trying to stop the batsman scoring at will? If someone at the BCCI is not raising the alarm right now, sending the message that if the third and final India - New Zealand Test at Nagpur doesn't see a result heads will roll, then they really just don't care if Test cricket withers and dies (as many already suspect). Are they so frightened of an adverse result - that is losing to the second-from-bottom side in the Test rankings - that they would rather have three consecutive draws, in the process hastening the demise of the five-day game?

[Sid]

other countries prepare pitches that suit their bowlers. why wont india!? :dontknow: BCCI and curators :fail:

Because if wicket of our choice is prepared,then it is termed as minefield by the foreign teams :giggle:

[urbestfriend]

Come on...We're no longer masters of spin, our strength is our fast bowling. Its our pacers more than spinners who've won the matches for us recently. BCCI has to prepare sporting pitches that offers something to our pacers..! Bhajji also thrives on the pitches which offer bounce! I don't know why we can't produce pitches like Mysore pitch in Last year's Ranji final or Mohali pitch. :dontknow:

[vaibhav_delhi]

Apart from the slow pitches, Bowling from harbhajan has also been disappointing.

[hari504504]

other countries prepare pitches that suit their bowlers. why wont india!? :dontknow: BCCI and curators :fail:

Suit what bowlers..? I don't think Harbhajan is going to be any more effective than Vettori on a turning track..we may dig ourselves into a tight spot. BCCI/curators should strongly consider a fair balance in the kind of tracks available through a series.. with atleast one green track for the seamers on both sides. We're all tired of notching up wins on raging turners..and dull draws on flat tracks.. lets do this for a change and give our seamers a chance to prove their true worth.

[vaibhav_delhi]

Suit what bowlers..? I don't think Harbhajan is going to be any more effective than Vettori on a turning track..we may dig ourselves into a tight spot. BCCI/curators should strongly consider a fair balance in the kind of tracks available through a series.. with atleast one green track for the seamers on both sides. We're all tired of notching up wins on raging turners..and dull draws on flat tracks.. lets do this for a change and give our seamers a chance to prove their true worth.

but we have a very good chance of indian win on any result oriented pitch be it spin friendly or pace friendly.

[kabira]

The problem with the tracks so far is that they have become really slow without degrading the pitch (no puff of dusts that we normally see). Ideally, pitch should support batsman for 1st 3 days and bowlers last two days.

[ZodiaC]

Suit what bowlers..? I don't think Harbhajan is going to be any more effective than Vettori on a turning track..we may dig ourselves into a tight spot.

But on the other hand, our batsmen vs spin>>>>>>>>>>>theirs.

[Sachinism]

how many times has this been brought up. Either BCCI can't do anything about the pitches to make them more bowling friendly or they just don't care and would rather please the TV networks by ensuring full 5 days are played out

[Nirvanam]

Suit what bowlers..? I don't think Harbhajan is going to be any more effective than Vettori on a turning track..we may dig ourselves into a tight spot. BCCI/curators should strongly consider a fair balance in the kind of tracks available through a series.. with atleast one green track for the seamers on both sides. We're all tired of notching up wins on raging turners..and dull draws on flat tracks.. lets do this for a change and give our seamers a chance to prove their true worth.

Aww come on dude...too much propaganda is influencing your thoughts about raging turners and all. Just coz some teams can't bat when the ball turns 5 degrees, they term it as a raging turner. Anyway, as Vaibhav points out, give us any result oriented pitch and we will win the game, more than lose it.

[putrevus]

Suit what bowlers..? I don't think Harbhajan is going to be any more effective than Vettori on a turning track..we may dig ourselves into a tight spot. BCCI/curators should strongly consider a fair balance in the kind of tracks available through a series.. with atleast one green track for the seamers on both sides. We're all tired of notching up wins on raging turners..and dull draws on flat tracks.. lets do this for a change and give our seamers a chance to prove their true worth.

you are spot on When is last time any spinner has won any match for India on his own, Mishra took 7 wickets on his debut test and after that he has been crap. Ohja has never shown any thing so far that he can be match winner. Bhajji has taken 2 five wicket hauls in his last 20 tests over two years which clearly shows he is going in wrong direction and this year has been his worst year and now he has got that Irfan Pathan Syndrome better with bat and no show with ball and he also shares one more trait with Irfan that is not acknowledging there is a problem with his bowling. So just because Indian spinners are not taking wickets it does not mean pitches have been super flat, they just are not raging turners with uneven bounce where guy like Sehwag can also win match on his own if given a chance why do we need specialist spinners then. Last time India played on raging turner it was Sehwag who jump started the collapse and had to give way for Bhajji so he can get wickets .

[jeetu]

Lack of turn in indian pitches even in last 2 days is cause of concern. Bhaji's performance has bowler is biggest worry.

[Shakthi]

Curators need to prepare pitches like mohali bangalore eden gardens how about if we have three seamers instead of two.

[punjabiplaya]

dhoni should put his foot down with the bccci and say we want result pitches,better to see a hundred under tough conditions tough bowling rather than a double hundred on a flat pitch! were number 1 we need to play on result pitches we have the players for the first time in many years,if we cant beat the number 8 ranked team then we dont dserve to be number 1!!

[vaibhav_delhi]

2 draws against the kiwis is bound to bring the rating points down.

[gaurav92]

We defintely need a wicket with some good carry and some tinge o green on it.Otherwise get ready for a boring draw once again

[hari504504]

Aww come on dude...too much propaganda is influencing your thoughts about raging turners and all. Just coz some teams can't bat when the ball turns 5 degrees, they term it as a raging turner. Anyway, as Vaibhav points out, give us any result oriented pitch and we will win the game, more than lose it.

I am not saying a raging turner is bad at all. Infact it is just our counterpart for what the Aussies dish-up at Perth or the Saffers at Kingsmead. As long as both teams are playing on the same surface, I think any kind of surface is fair. Just saying that I'd like our team to notch a win against a visiting side on a different type of surface - deviating from traditions

[saneindian]

I am not saying a raging turner is bad at all. Infact it is just our counterpart for what the Aussies dish-up at Perth or the Saffers at Kingsmead. As long as both teams are playing on the same surface, I think any kind of surface is fair. Just saying that I'd like our team to notch a win against a visiting side on a different type of surface - deviating from traditions

I have never heard an aussie , english or saffer fan say that he would like to his team win against a visitng team on a spinning track!! They are happy to see their team win on pacer friendly wickets. I know what you are trying to say but I will take a test win on any kind of a surface. As you rightly said, the surface is the same for both the teams and good teams will do well on any given surface (except for roads which are a disgrace for cricket).