Ahmedabad pitch raises questions on Tests survival: Ganguly
New Delhi | Saturday, Nov 21 2009 IST
 

Former captain Sourav Ganguly has warned cricket administrators to do away with the pitches that produced a tame draw between India and Sri Lanka in the opening Test at Motera and claimed that such flat tracks would further make the survival of Test cricket difficult.

The first Test between India and Sri Lanka, which ended in a draw yesterday, produced 1598 runs and only 21 wickets fell in the five days.

Ganguly said the result and the track at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera has hardly done anything good in the time when questions are being raised over the survival of Tests while ODIs and Twenty20 cricket have taken over the popularity.

''In an era where there is demand for the shorter versions of the game, administrators will need to look at surfaces and make sure they produce results, because those are what people come to watch, and they are very important for the survival of Test cricket,'' said the former Indian captain. Ganguly was so critical in his assessment of the Motera track that he claimed that another Test could have been played on the same strip.

''The flatness of the pitch completely neutralised the spinners' efforts in the game. Looking at the way Murali bowled on day five and the amount of turn he got from the pitch, I would not be wrong in saying that one more Test match could probably be played on this wicket. ''I was a little surprised by the flatness of the pitch on day five. Normally on Indian wickets the red soil provides a lot more bounce and turn to spinners,'' Ganguly wrote in his column for Cricinfo. The former left-hander further added that Sri Lankans would rue that they allowed India to go off the hook after they had reduced India to 32 for 4 on the opening day's morning.

He pointed that it was just the century partnership between Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni that the visitors needed to break but did give the credit to the duo as they struck centuuries at brisk pace.

''Sri Lanka had their chances in the Test, and they did onderfully well to reduce India to 30-odd for 4 on the first morning; but they allowed them to get to 400. ''I think Sri Lanka will rue that when they sit down to analyse the Test match. ''Breaking the partnership between Dhoni and Dravid at that stage would have put Sri Lanka in a good position. Having said that, all credit should be given to Dhoni and Dravid - not only because they scored runs but for the manner in which they batted under pressure. ''They looked very positive and that put a lot of pressure on the Sri Lankan bowling as the wicket had dried out by then.'' The 37-year-old Ganguly, however, singled out Dravid's performance who struck a magnificent 177 and also credited the selectors for their faith on the veteran batsman even though it was quite some time that he played the top level cricket.

''Dravid will be very satisfied with his knock. He is playing top-level cricket after a long time. He has had to bear the brunt of being left out of the one-day side, and he was not in the best of form for about two years before the Test match in Mohali against England last year. ''But once again he proved that class is permanent, and he will be a relieved man. The selectors must be given credit for rightly showing faith in him. His record as a Test and one-day player is outstanding,'' he noted.

On the next Test, which begins from November 24 in Kanpur, Ganguly said Sri Lanka would most likely bring in Ajentha Mendis with the conditions suiting him there.

-- (UNI) -- 21SPD8.xml

 

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