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Pitching for landmark
Eden Gardens curator Prabir Mukherjee said on Tuesday that he has prepared a wicket that will require application from players.“The wicket will be conducive for any player who manages to utilise the conditions. I have prepared a good wicket. It is up to the players how well or how bad they perform,” Mukherjee told The Pioneer.
The Eden Gardens pitch was a bit on the slower side during the recent ODI and T20 against England, but Mukherjee said that the wicket will be different for the second Test between India and West Indies starting on Monday. “A Test match wicket will naturally be different from a one-day or T20 wicket,” he stated.
Mukherjee had faced a lot of criticism for the condition of the wicket after the Indian team lost the one-off T20 clash to England. Refusing to comment on the issue, he pointed out that the outcome of a match depends on the performance of the teams involved and not on the curator.
“What should I do about it?” he asked. “The Indian team had won the fifth and last ODI against the same opponents just before that match. There was nothing wrong with the wicket,” he added.
He also denied that he had received any instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) on how to prepare the wicket. “No, as far as I am aware, there have been no instructions from the BCCI or the CAB. The board generally does not interfere in the preparation of the pitch,” Mukherjee said.
The veteran curator asserted that he would be extremely happy if Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar achieves the much awaited milestone of scoring his 100th international century on the Eden Gardens pitch.
“Yes, of course, I would be happy if Sachin scores his century on this pitch. It will be an honour and good fortune for me and also for this stadium if he achieves that historic milestone here,” Mukherjee gushed.
