10 January,2009 06:32 AM IST | | Sanjjeev K Samyal
Sachin Tendulkar taking off for a run en route his ton for Mumbai against Saurashtra in the Ranji semis recently
As the neutral venue issue is still hot, Ranji finalists Mumbai and UP hope for a fair wicket in Hyderabad
INDIA are within touching distance of the No 1 ranking. But taking the last few steps to be best in the world will be the toughest part. For, it will depend on how India cope in conditions away from home, mainly bouncy or sporting tracks, believes India's former captain Sourav Ganguly.
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Hence, it was disappointing to see two important first-class games, the Ranji Trophy semi-finals, being marred by flat, feather-bed wickets. Hopefully, the final of Indian cricket's showpiece event does not end up being another meaningless encounter like the Tamil Nadu vs Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai vs Saurashtra matches at Chennai and Nagpur respectively. Ironically, they were played at the home associations of Board president Shashank Manohar and secretary
Disgrace
In both the games, only one innings could be completed in four days which showed that in spite all the talk of the importance of good, sporting tracks at the domestic level, the lessons really haven't been learnt.
To restore confidence that the Board is serious about the issue, it is imperative they salvage the final at Hyderabad by providing the platform for quality cricket.
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BCCI's Pitches and Grounds Committees chairman Daljit Singh assured that the wicket for the final will be livelier and the match will have a level playing field for bowlers and batsmen. "It is a fair comment," Daljit told MiD DAY while accepting criticism for the semi-final wickets. "But, we should look at the whole picture; the quarter-final wickets were very good. Unfortunately, the semi-final wickets turned out to be batting wickets. We too are not very happy about it and will discuss it," said Daljit.
All efforts are on for a good five-day wicket for the Mumbai vs Uttar Pradesh game which kicks off on Monday.
Damage control
"South Zone curator PR Viswanath has paid three visits to the venue and I will reach there tomorrow. Shivlal Yadav (Hyderabad CA secretary) is taking personal interest to provide a good wicket. Between all of us, we will ensure a good, hard wicket which has uniform grass cover and will not be over-rolled," Daljit told
MiD DAY yesterday.
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Mumbai coach Praveen Amre is not amused with the idea of playing at neutral wickets just for the sake of it. His concern is whether the real purpose of avoiding the home advantage is being achieved. "A sporting track does not necessarily mean a green wicket, but it should have good bounce so that there is a good contest between bat and ball. We scored 600 runs at Chennai and we struggled to bowl Saurashtra out," said Amre.
"The teams to reach the semi-final are quality sides. If their bowlers are ineffective then there is something wrong with the conditions. The ultimate aim is to have quality cricket where we can screen players for the next level, who can do well in difficult conditions," said Amre.
Tamil Nadu coach WV Raman said it was not just about the knock-out games. The overall picture was disappointing. "It is just unfortunate that we hear the same old thing about sporting pitches, but nothing happens.
I am rather sorry to say this, but this talk began a long time ago that we need to prepare bouncy, sporting tracks. I have seen wickets across the country. I want someone to tell me what exactly a sporting track is?" Raman remarked.u00a0
"When you are talking about neutral venues, it is not all about home venues (avoiding the home advantage). Ninety five per cent of the wickets in India are flat. It has to do with the basic nature of the tracks. So what do you do with that?" asked Raman.
Meanwhile, Indian cricket lovers hope for a well contested Ranji Trophy final.
