India will face off against New Zealand on Saturday in the final ODI of the series. With the series tied at 2-2, both the teams will be looking to give it their best shot to win.
Ahead of the crucial clash, the curator of the ACA-VDCA stadium stated that the Vizag pitch will be a batting beauty. Local curator K. Nagamalliah assured that the pitch was prepared keeping in mind the key international fixture. "The surface is hard. We have got adequate time to prepare the wicket, and I'm expecting at least 280-300 on the board," he was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.
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The Vizag pitch was under scrutiny after the Ranji Trophy clash between Assam and Rajasthan ended in just 3 days earlier this month. The match became the center of talk and the cricketing fraternities questioned if the pitch was fit for play. The variable bounce reportedly made spending time on the wicket extremely hazardous for the batsmen.
Assam coach and former Indian spinner, Sunil Joshi had taken to Twitter to slam the curator for giving the teams a 'dangerous' pitch.
Following the Ranji Trophy match BCCI curator K. Sriram was sent in to inspect the Vizag pitch and give his views regarding it. Sriram carried out his inspections and told the BCCI that the pitch was worthy enough to host the final ODI.
The BCCI curator said that the final ODI between India and New Zealand would be played on pitch number five, which had an even mix of red soil and clay. While talking to Hindustan Times he said, "I am happy with what I saw. It will be a good surface."
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However, the local curator said that had it not been for the rains, he would have put in a bit more effort in preparing the pitch. Nagamalliah said that the pitches were a bit under-prepared due to the incessant rains. He added that the 21 days of non-stop rains had hardly given them a chance to prepare the wicket for the first match of the Ranji season, and the relaid wicket was not used at all.
The experienced curator said that he had made the most of the limited amount of time to prepare the best possible wicket for the final ODI. He went on to add that the match will be a high scoring one as he had concentrated on preparing a hard pitch and has even urged the captains to bat first if they win the toss.
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