Before they start moaning about the pitches

[Cricketics]

Aren't the pitches in the tournament tested by Andy atikinson? the pitch specialist who was also in India during the 2006 champions trophy??? That whole tournament too there were some slow wickets. Thats subcontinent. Some of these proteas players make noise for nothing

[Ram]

It isnt without co-incidence that the non-subcontinental teams have already begun making noises about the pitches, even though these are only warm-ups. They know that the more spin-friendly the tracks, the harder it will become for them or to put it in converse, the flatter the pitches are, the more it levels the playing field for them. But, I doubt if it we will have spin-friendly tracks. There will be too much pressure from corporate sponsors to have these games to be high-scoring ones. We've already heard the tournament director Ratnakar Shetty literally accept on camera that the format of the tournament was rigged entirely to make sure India qualifies for the knock-outs. They're not going to make this a low-scoring tournament.

[DomainK]

Yeah, they have the same opinion: If it turns, it's sub standard. Ponting and others need to man up, grow a pair and learn a few things about playing spin.

[Ultimate_Game]

Let me re-post my comment from another thread... Who gives a f**k what Smith and Ponting moan about. As long as India keeps on winning I will be happy to see saffers and aussies whining. In fact I would love to see India facing SA or Aus in the final on a pitch turning square from ball one (similar to the test match pitch we played on against Aussies in 2004 where they were bowled out for 90 odd) and India thrashing them royally. It would be hilarious to see the look on Ponting or Smith's face when they moan and whinge about the pitch in the post-match interview I still remember the fast and seaming pitch saffers prepared for T20 match in the T20 wrld cup against India and they themselves couldn't post 120 on the pitch :) It amazes me that it's ok to create a green, bouncy and seaming pitch where putting bat on the ball is a struggle but everyone is up in the arms if the pitch turns. As long as pitch condition is the same for both the sides nobody should be complaining IMO

[Zero_Unit]

Ehh, this is rather annoying. Not like they were expecting the wickets to suit their bowlers. Since the WC is at home (BD + SL included) obviously the wicket is suppose to support us and BD + SL. It's the same thing when they host the WC. They don't make the wicket slow and low for our bowlers. Annoying comments like this should not even surface in the media ... should be left in the trash can.

[criczero]

They prepare fast, bouncy pitches for asian teams based on their strengths, but start crying when the asians prepare spin friendly pitches. let the chokers choke on dead pitches

[Hindustani]

Wasn't brett lee the second best bowler of the match ?

[Dinx - the Jinx]

i got a shock at the start of the match when they were doing the pitch report. manjrekar spoke about even grass cover and ian chappel declaring it as a beautiful wicket as son as he saw grass cover on it. i was so annoyed at the curator - wondering who he was trying to impress by leaving grass on the pitch. it had a lot of bounce in the first half and bret le and co exploited it and restricted us to 214. and even sreesanth was getting nice bounce when he came on to bowl when the wicket was 50+ overs old. but the aussie batsmen were not going to be troubled by the bounce an they were cruising. no one said it looked like an under prepared wicket or anything. but the moment it started turning, it was considered an under prepared wicket. How can an under prepared wicket have so much bounce? to be fair, it was a decent wicket which assisted both fast bowling ad spin bowling. so the smiths and pontings cannot keep whining about indian pitches. when we went to play 2003WC and 2007T20WC in South Africa we did not go there expecting slow turners. Same way they should stop expecting bouncy tracks and find a way to overcome spin bowling. what they are currently doing by whining about pithes is, they are putting pressure on the curators to stay away from preparing spinner friendly pitches and leave grass on the pitch. Becayse they dont watn to be criticized in the post matc conference in their own groumnd. i wish the curators and the bcci dont pay heed and continue to take advantage of home WC and prepare wickets that suit our bating and bowling. for all india matches we should create spin tracks and go in with only 2 seamers and 2 spinners. if yday's match was any indcation of things to come, then I think the non asian teams are going to have a lot of troble negotiating spin and we should really take adv and go for the kill. arent they using short bails against our batsmen (raina was greeted with no. of short balls even in blore?). i want spinners to bowl 30 to 35 overs in every match.

[putrevus]

Ponting and Smith are both cunning foxes, they know they can put pressure on Curators/Media from subcontinent who have traditionally bent backwards to satisfy the whims of visiting white captains. Curators are put under pressure from comments like this and they will do anything to be portrayed as neutral thus comments like this come from these guys. These whiny comments fuel media sites like cricinfo who are still in stone age where everything any white guy says is right and their comments are treated as gold standard. So when a white guys says a good pitch should have pace and bounce and should assist pace bowlers but when it assists spinners it is under prepared.These are gold standards which have been ingrained in minds of subcontinent media/curators. You only see complaints about the pitches when a white country plays in subcontinent, complaints about pitch never arises when the match is between two subcontinent teams or two western countries. No team from Subcontinent complains when they tour places like SA, England or Australia when playing on bouncy or pacy wickets.When those teams tour subcontinent they start moaning about pitches the moment they arrive for one one and only reason they are not very good at it ,their bowlers cant be so effective and their batsmen have no clue. This whining in media has always worked for them in past so they will continue to do so in future unless teams subcontinent say tough luck you are not playing in your country.Media in subcontinent needs to stop reacting on the petulant behavior from these visiting captains and support their home teams.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

Ponting and Smith are both cunning foxes, they know they can put pressure on Curators/Media from subcontinent who have traditionally bent backwards to satisfy the whims of visiting white captains. Curators are put under pressure from comments like this and they will do anything to be portrayed as neutral thus comments like this come from these guys. These whiny comments fuel media sites like cricinfo who are still in stone age where everything any white guy says is right and their comments are treated as gold standard. So when a white guys says a good pitch should have pace and bounce and should assist pace bowlers but when it assists spinners it is under prepared.These are gold standards which have been ingrained in minds of subcontinent media/curators. You only see complaints about the pitches when a white country plays in subcontinent, complaints about pitch never arises when the match is between two subcontinent teams or two western countries. No team from Subcontinent complains when they tour places like SA, England or Australia when playing on bouncy or pacy wickets.When those teams tour subcontinent they start moaning about pitches the moment they arrive for one one and only reason they are not very good at it ,their bowlers cant be so effective and their batsmen have no clue. This whining in media has always worked for them in past so they will continue to do so in future unless teams subcontinent say tough luck you are not playing in your country.Media in subcontinent needs to stop reacting on the petulant behavior from these visiting captains and support their home teams.

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