Stay away from ground, Board dictat to pitch committee

By Vijay Lokapally

NEW DELHI, FEB 28. Rattled by the defeat at Mumbai, the Board on Monday took a retrograde step by issuing a dictat to the Pitch and Grounds' Committee members to stay away from all the remaining venues of the India-South Africa series.

A decision had been taken on February 16 in Mumbai to appoint two members of the Pitch and Grounds' Committee to be present two days before at every venue to oversee the preparations for the match. The decision as such stands cancelled, according to the Board's communication.

It is learnt that the message to the members of the said committee, and the associations staging the second Test at Bangalore and the five one-day internationals, was obviously conveyed at the behest of the team management.

The Secretaries of the six concerned associations - Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar, Haryana, Baroda and Vidarbha - have been informed of this move by the Board.

The move was neccessiated mainly because of the poor performance of the Indian team at Mumbai. The reference to pitch, which was a good cricket wicket, being the villain just about conveys the desperation in the ranks of the Indian team which failed miserably on a pitch offering slow turn to the spinners. The Board's move to revert to doctored pitches is aimed at protecting the image of the game, what with India suffering its fourth consecutive Test defeat.

At no point did the pitch at Mumbai give the impression of being an underprepared track and the fault clearly lay in the inept batting display by the Indians. There had been some encouraging talk by the Board of preparing sporting tracks but this move only confirms the fact that the home team, exposed by the South African speedsters at Mumbai, is not mentally ready to accept and rectify its follies.

Spoilt by the favourable pitches in the last decade, the team has managed to compel the Board to keep those who talk of sporting pitches away from the venue.

With the members of the Pitch and Grounds' Committee being kept away, the team management is likely to focus on getting an underprepared pitch at Bangalore, having failed to get one in Mumbai. Not a good sign for Indian cricket.

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Section  : Sport
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