Nari Contractor (82) and Chandrakant Patankar (85), the two survivors from the first India vs New Zealand Test at Kolkata in 1955-56, reckoned the strip rolled out for India's 250th Test at home was not an ideal one
Nari Contractor and Chandrakant Patankar
Nari Contractor and Chandrakant Patankar
Nari Contractor (82) and Chandrakant Patankar (85), the two survivors from the first India vs New Zealand Test at Kolkata in 1955-56, reckoned the strip rolled out for India's 250th Test at home was not an ideal one.
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"From the first day itself I said this pitch would not last five days. And mind you, there were rain interruptions as well. The pitch had uneven bounce and this can never contribute to a good Test match pitch. Some balls didn't come up at all; some were dangerous," said Contractor, a few hours after Virat Kohli's men completed a 178-run victory over the Kiwis.
"Even the pitch for the opening Test at Kanpur where it started turning from the first day, was a sub-standard one," stressed Contractor. Patankar, who made his debut at Kolkata in 1955-56, didn't get picked to play for India again. He was selected in place of Naren Tamhane.
Yesterday, Patankar was surprised to see the Eden pitch behave better than the previous three days. Poor quality pitch notwithstanding, Patankar emphasised that the side that played better cricket won. "Maybe the rains came in the way of the pitch preparation. India played good cricket against an opposition which is not of great quality. This New Zealand team is not a very good one and the one high quality batsman they have (captain Kane Williamson), did not play due to illness," Patankar remarked.
However, Kohli praised the Eden pitch at the press conference. "A brilliant Test wicket, apart from the variable bounce here and there, it will get better and better," he said. Contractor too did not think highly of the current New Zealand team, although they don't fall short when it comes to giving off their best.
"The problem with opposition like this is, you don't come to know what your real strengths are," said Contractor. The former India captain was thrilled to see Cheteshwar Pujara come good in the Kolkata Test after much talk about his strike rate. "Pujara is a real asset. He is solid and has been consistent. To all this talk about his strike rate, I can only say that if people are determined to find faults in a player, they can pick on anything," said Contractor.
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