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The Lame Game Of The Champions!

Arsalan Shaikh on 2, Mar 2013 | 2 Comments | in Category: Sports Sprit

Arsalan Shaikh

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Congratulations to Team India for the 8 wicket win over Australia and leading the series with 1-0. Having said that, India has once again disappointed every cricketing fan, who supports the fair game (obviously not Indian fans). India has again produced a low quality pitch to play on. The pitch seems to be a strip of mud over which the match was played.

 
It was just a graveyard for fast bowlers, providing no help to them whatsoever. The pitch was so slow that an express pace bowler like James Pattinson, who was bowling at an average speed of 145 Km/h, seems to be bowling at 120 km/h or 130km/h. Ravichandran Ashwin took 12 wickets in the match, casting his usual spell. The way he was spinning the cherry reminded me of Muttiah Muralitharan. Jadeja, who is known to be a wicket-to -wicket bowler, and as one who keeps the opponent team under pressure by just darting the ball, was turning the ball to some degrees.

 
I accept that it is the right of the home team to prepare the pitches according its strength. But a standard should also be maintained. The ugly looking pitch with uneven bounce and the ball turning miles off the surface is not the way to go. The pitch was getting worse as the game progressed. If the game stayed alive for a couple of more sessions, the amount of spins the spinners were getting would have been impossible to control.

After losing the test series to the English side, the Indians have started this lame game again. A couple of years ago, when Sri Lanka beat India in their backyard, the pitch for the final (which was a non-decider) was such an awful one that halfway after the start of Sri Lankan innings, they refused to complete the contest. The Sri Lankan maverick Kumara Sangakkara was hit by full pitch delivery, which hit him on the hand in line with his chest. Indians have been doing it for decades. ICC should take some action against it to make the contest competitive.

The pitches we see in other countries are prepared keeping the strength of the home team in view, but those pitches never get unplayable. For instance, in the current test series, which was played between the Proteas and Pakistan, the pitches were helping the pace bowlers as it is their strong point, but there was also help for the magician Ajmal.

Pakistan was outplayed by the South African side, but Pakistani fans have no complaints about the playing conditions. It was just the brilliance of the Proteas that took the Green shirts apart. India should work on sportsman spirit and respect the beauty of the gentlemen’s game.

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