Poor show by the BCCI

In a phase where the game's oldest format is regarded as being "boring", "agonizingly long" and "poor result producing", the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has done something which is only going to further dampen the interest in Test match cricket. The pitch at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad for the on-going India v/s Sri Lanka clash has turned out to be a batsmen's paradise with absolutely nothing in it for the bowlers. Imagine the situation where it's day 4 of a test match and the track is unchanged and stays like it's still only the 1st or 2nd day. Even a spinner with the experience and talent of Muralidharan is not able to find appreciable turn in the latter stages of the match. And the slowness of the wicket is not helping the cause either. Are the pitch committee members of the BCCI aware of this and watching?

This test match has become a poor advertisement for cricket's most important format and the the Board has got only itself to blame. Mahela Jayawardena and Rahul Dravid can, indeed, construct innings of such substance anywhere in the world. But they would have loved to do it in conditions assisting bowlers and as a result, would have gained much more satisfaction than at present. The question now is, when will the BCCI realize the importance of preparing fast, bouncy, swinging tracks to ensure that the bowlers also get a fair deal and exploit the conditions? This should be done right from the grass-roots level and not just for international matches. The current test match has exposed this blemish of the Indian Board as the seamers and spinners, alike, are finding it very hard to get any purchase from the pitch.

Another important fact is that it's the ability of a batsman to thrive in bowler-friendly conditions that will help him in the long run. This is the exact reason as to why the Indians find it very hard to cope with conditions in Australia (pace and bounce) or England (swing). Barring a few exceptions like Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, the others, especially the younger lot, have found it extremely difficult to adapt themselves during tours to these countries. Though this has been the talking point for quite sometime now, the Indian officials do not seem to be taking note of issues of such magnitude but instead are just continuing with the trend of preparing flat wickets like at Ahmedabad.

It’s high time that the BCCI made sure that it prepares pitches which have everything in them – runs and wickets. It should act now and quickly. Otherwise, the situation might reach the point when the effects could become irreversible.