For crusaders of bowler-friendly pitches in India, this is the place to be. The pitch and the square had a generous presence of grass and Mumbai skipper Zaheer Khan had no hesitation in asking Haryana to bat first when the defending champions began their Ranji campaign at the Bansi Lal Stadium yesterday.

Sachin Tendulkar inspects the green pitch at Lahli on Day One of the Mumbai vs Haryana Ranji Trophy match. Pic/Gayathri Venugopalan