Angry Ravi Shastri taunts wankhede curator

[amiret]

New Delhi:The Indian team management was miffed with the Wankhede track prepared by the Mumbai Cricket Association ground staff for the deciding fifth and final ODI against South Africa which the hosts lost by 214 runs to clinch the series 3-2 here on Sunday.

According to a report in the Hindustan Times newspaper, team director Ravi Shastri made a sarcastic remark about the track, as he crossed paths with the MCA curator Sudhir Naik.

"Great wicket” followed by an expletive, is what he is alleged to have said according to the report.

“Don’t teach me about the wicket, I have also played for India,” was Naik's reply.

The curator then took up the issue with MCA officials, including vice president of the association Dilip Vengsarkar. 

Taking offense to Shastri's remark, Naik intends to pursue the issue further with the BCCI by filing an official complaint.

"They wanted the track to be a bit loose, but the suggestion was rejected and a 350-run track was asked to be prepared," said the source, pleading anonymity told PTI.

 So Indian team demanded a turning track but MCA intentionally prepared a 350+ run track .

http://zeenews.india.com/sports/cricket/india-vs-south-africa-2015/angry-ravi-shastri-takes-dig-at-mca-curator-after-loss_1814561.html

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/video/ind-vs-sa-ravi-shastri-unhappy-over-wankhede-track-taunts-curator/1/507191.html

[rkt.india]

Why didnt India make 350 plus runs then?

[Gollum]

Indian cricket is a joke. Don't know who to believe now.

[Gollum]

Where is the idiot Daljit Singh? He is on a mission to destroy all cricketing pitches in the country, domestic as well as for international matches.

[G_B_]

that pitch was a joke. He knew that the ground is small and the outfield fast. 

[TheWall]

"They wanted the track to be a bit loose, but the suggestion was rejected and a 350-run track was asked to be prepared," said the source, pleading anonymity told PTI.

 

Is the curator out of mind. Why cant he make a sporting wicket?

[Iconoclast]

Ravi is right, if India had gotten a better pitch all those full tosses and half trackers would have picked up wickets instead of being hit halfway to Capetown 

[coffee_rules]

Why didnt India make 350 plus runs then?

It was a 350 run track, so two innings together will get around 700 runs. India could only get to around 250 when SA had scored close to 450, to make it even 700  for the pitch preparation.

[rkt.india]

"They wanted the track to be a bit loose, but the suggestion was rejected and a 350-run track was asked to be prepared," said the source, pleading anonymity told PTI.

 

Is the curator out of mind. Why cant he make a sporting wicket?

Pitches in previous matches were balanced.

[Malcolm Merlyn]

Too much politics.These curators think they are law onto themselvesm

[putrevus]

If this pitch was so flat how come these guys did not even cross 300,

Dhobi was telling it has become difficult to slog in dealth overs but the fact remains yes it has become tougher but it is not as tough as Dhoni wants everyone to believe.The fact is Dhoni has become useless in slog overs and he needs to accept that fact.

This guy is lamenting the lack of strike bowler but fact remains as a captain he has never developed or tried to develop any strike bowler, this guy has been a bane to fast bowlers, all the fast bowlers have regressed under this guy's captaincy.

When new bowlers come in and take wickets what is so great about being a captain.Captaincy is more than field setting it is about having a vision and trying to develop talent given to him.

Edited October 26, 2015 by putrevus

[Ironhide]

Ravi Shastri is justified in taunting the curator, who dreams about creating a 350 runs pitch which he is so proud of. Atleast some spin later-on in the innings would have made things interesting. 

[kosingh]

Even if India was batting first they'd struggle to get past 300. 

 

[Gollum]

If this pitch was so flat how come these guys did not even cross 300,

Dhobi was telling it has become difficult to slog in dealth overs but the fact remains yes it has become tougher but it is not as tough as Dhoni wants everyone to believe.The fact is Dhoni has become useless in slog overs and he needs to accept that fact.

This guy is lamenting the lack of strike bowler but fact remains as a captain he has never developed or tried to develop any strike bowler, this guy has been a bane to fast bowlers all the fast bowlers have regressed under this guy's captaincy.

When new bowlers come in and take wickets what is so great about being a captain.Captaincy is more than field setting it is about having a vision and trying to develop talent given to him.

Because of scorecard pressure. If we had batted first we would have got 350(not 430, we don't have explosive batsmen sadly any more)

[coffee_rules]

Angry at cloud not covering as well.

 

[amiret]

Furious after South Africa piled on the agony by scoring 438 runs at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium against India on Sunday, team director Ravi Shastri abused the curator of the pitch Sudhir Naik, a former India opener, for producing a wicket that offered hardly any assistance to the Indian spinners, primarily.

Taking a sarcastic dig at Naik, Shastri first said, “Great wicket”, and followed with a cuss word saying, “G****** T*** Wicket” ( in Marathi). Naik, taking offence to Shastri’s remark, retorted by saying, “Don’t teach me about wicket, I have also played for India.” Naik, it is learnt, soon took up the matter with a Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) official later in the evening.

“It has been conveyed to us by Naik that Ravi Shastri had abused him during the match once South Africa’s innings was over. We haven’t received anything in written from Naik, will see if we receive any written complaint,” said one top MCA official on the condition of anonymity.

the Indian team management had requested the MCA official to prepare a wicket that can be a little helpful to their spinners particularly after the spinners turned appreciable at the Chepauk wicket in Chennai. With the Indian team’s sudden liking for the turner after the Chennai victory, when the team managed to stayed afloat in the series, the team management shifted their attention to the Wankhede pitch.

However, the hosting association was in two minds whether to tinker with the pitch so late with just two days remaining before the Sunday match. “Their (team management) request came so late that we couldn’t have done anything to the pitch. I don’t know why so much of fuss being created around the pitch when the touring side has adapted well to the pitches here,” said a source in the MCA.

The fact is the MCA saw a possible mess in doing something at the last minute, not sure what effect that would have, hence chose not to tinker around with the pitch.

 

It is a shame the Indian team management and the MCA failed to doctor the pitch to our advantage.

[G_B_]

Its not a question of doctoring. As i said before you know its a small ground with small boundaries with a fast outfield. Surely regardless of aiding the home side or not you would want to see a degree of balance between bat and ball? I would not mind if they had made it a pacers pitch.  Pitches at Wankhede and Bangalore need to assist the bowlers a bit extra to counter these physical limitations. 

If anything Mumbai has natural turn in its pitches due to red clay soil. There must have been a good degree of doctoring to make it a flat pitch. 

I also think some posters are not aware of scoreboard pressure. In the recent world cup match between India and SA it was scoreboard pressure which caused Saffer wickets to tumble. There they were chasing 307 with the old rules. 

Edited October 26, 2015 by G_B_

[amiret]

perhaps "doctor" was a wrong choice of words , i meant to say "Alter."

I completely agree we need pitches which offer considerable assistance to bowlers.

Edited October 26, 2015 by amiret

[G_B_]

The problem is once you make a flat pitch its very hard to alter it. You can cut grass off quickly. you cant make grass grow quickly. (or there are more limitations). I dont think the groundsman is to blame. Its the MCA admin and Ravi shastri himself. Naik the groundsman was just following orders. Ravi especially should have made his request probably with a week to go.

The traditional mumbai pitch does have turn bounce and can have swing (depending on the wind as its located close to the sea). All the folks at mumbai needed to do is make a natural mumbai pitch. The bounce would aid south africa and the spin would aid India. It would be a more even contest, though i feel India would still lose as chasing has been a bogey in this series for both sides.

[Cricketics]

How is Wankahede small ground? It is bigger than some of the other grounds in the world. All of a sudden 430 is scored and people are callng Wankahede, a small ground. You lay this same surface on a Bangalore pitch and see how many runs are scored provided we continue to bowl shyt line and length like we did in this 5th odi. 

I find Wankahede one of the decent size grounds. We have way smaller grounds than Wankahede in India. 

Edited October 26, 2015 by Cricketics