Bad pitches are physically dangerous to the players: Deep Dasgupta

Deep Dasgupta has defended the Ahmedabad pitch used in the 3rd Test between India and England. The former wicketkeeper opined that a pitch can be categorized as unfit for Test matches only if it's either physically dangerous for the players involved or overtly flat.

Deep Dasgupta's comments come while many in the cricketing fraternity are heatedly discussing the playing conditions in the 2nd and 3rd Tests of the India-England series.

Both the Chennai and Ahmedabad strips favored the spinners from the first session. This prompted some pundits to call for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to interrupt and admonish the hosts for "misbehaving" and preparing "sandpit" pitches.

Interacting with Sports Today on Monday, Deep Dasgupta said:

“For me, I think a bad pitch is one that is physically dangerous. We have seen a few of these pitches, where the ball is bouncing or spatting from a good length and there is a physical danger to the players - that is one.

"The other type of bad pitch is one where there is absolutely no life for anyone, so you could look at some of those pitches where you score 600-700 runs and there is nothing for the bowlers at all," Dasgupta added.

Some English cricket experts have hit back at the criticism of the pitch by blaming the batsmen for their incompetent batting against the turning ball. They have argued that the green tops in the UK and New Zealand and the bouncy pitches in Australia and South Africa receive no such criticism.

I like that the Test pitches have been bowler-friendly in recent years: Deep Dasgupta

Joe Root in Ahmedabad. [Credits: England Cricket]

Deep Dasgupta also stated that he is glad that pitches during Test matches have been bowler-friendly in the past few years.

“When you look at white-ball cricket, the pitches are very flat, which is very pro-batting. But in the last few years, the Test match pitches have been bowler-friendly. Whether it is seam bowling or spin, it has been bowler-friendly and I like this,” said Deep Dasgupta.

The 4th and final Test of the series will commence on March 4th.