Pitch Fever - To Be or Not to Be

A member of ground staff (L) uses a broom to sweep dust off the pitch as umpire Bruce Oxenford (C) and India's Murali Vijay look on

“The pitch provided excessive bounce as well as movement off the seam. South Africa's own batsmen were discomfited and the match would have been shorter still if India had had a third seamer of quality to support Srinath and Prasad, who bowled magnificently for five in each innings, and held their catches. “

The above is an extract from the official Wisden match report of the first test match between India and South Africa played at Kingsmead, Durban in 1996. Fans of the 90s will recall that India lost this match by 328 runs after being bowled out for 100 & 66 in the two innings. And mind you that Indian team had the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammed Azharuddin and Rahul Dravid among others.

Compare this with the current Freedom series and I cannot help the feeling that the roles have reversed. The Proteas are at the receiving end this time around. Pitches have provided excessive turn from the very first day of test matches and this has drawn criticism from many corners. Right from the last match of the one-day series between India & South Africa, the 22 yards of land at the centre has been at the centre of controversies. This brings us to the core point of debate – whether we should have such pitches in future and are they good for test cricket.

To answer this question, we should first answer few basic questions. Was the pitch unfit for playing as per Law 3.8 of the MCC? Was it for the first time that the pitch was prepared to suit the home team? The answers to the above questions is “No” and hence prima facie the Indians were well within their rights in asking for a rank turner pitch. Also these pitches produced results which is any day better than having a boring draw after five days of cricket.

Since the beginning of cricket or for that matter in any sport, home advantage has been an important factor and that’s the very reason that teams which perform well outside their home country earn enormous accolades. And I am very much in favour of having this home advantage. I mean when the Indian team plays at Durban or Cape Town it knows that there would be bounce and the pitch may not turn even on Day 5. So, why the hue and cry now?

Disappointing show from South Africa batsmen

Now I am not an expert, but the great Sunil Gavaskar said that the Nagpur pitch was definitely not unplayable. Yes, it wasn’t a pitch on which one would expect a score of 400 runs but it was not as bad as to be bowled out for less than 100 runs. As per Mr Gavaskar, it is the batsmen who should take the blame and not the pitch for they did not show the patience required on such wickets. He went on to cite examples of wickets of top players from both the sides who were not done in by the pitch but their own impatience got the better of them.

I agree with Mr Gavaskar’s pitch analysis and feel that the South African batsmen lost half the battle in their minds. But I would be frank in saying that as a fan I have not enjoyed this series so far and again I am not putting the blame on the pitch for this. I would have been happier if we had closer matches. In the test series so far we haven’t seen a real fight from the Proteas and although it gives me immense pleasure that India has beaten the no.1 test team comprehensively, but the question that worries me is that “Are we building a fake world?”

Is the current Indian team really good that it can beat or at least give a fight to the no. 1 test team in conditions which may not be as favourable to them as the current one? And if the answer to the above question is “No” then we need to rethink our strategy for the future.

I would end from where I started by giving a summary of the Nagpur test -

“The pitch provided excessive turn and low bounce. India's own batsmen were discomfited and the match would have been shorter still if South Africa had had a third spinner of quality to support Imran Tahir and Simon Harmer, who bowled magnificently in each innings. “