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Ganguly not happy with Nagpur pitch
Nagpur, Oct 25: The pitch at the VCA Ground may have lost much of its grass in a matter of few hours, but skipper Sourav Ganguly is still far from happy saying the curator had not kept the home team's strength in mind. Curator Kishore Pradhan had surprisingly prepared a green-top track for the crucial third cricket Test against Australia beginning here tomorrow but later trimmed the grass to bare minimum following a request from
Ganguly.
But a glum-looking Ganguly said today the curator had not heeded to his request to prepare a wicket to suit the Indian spinners. "I made the request from Kolkata on October 20 to shave off the grass from the wicket. Obviously, our strength is our spinners. But at the end of the day the pitch is up to him (curator) I can only make a request," Ganguly told a press conference after his team's match eve net session. "We will play on what he gives. I don't think he has done much work (of trimming of the grass)."
The green-top wicket prepared for the match had come in for a lot of debate and today too the mower was seen to be working on the pitch even as the two teams practised on either side of it. Ganguly, however, said the wicket should help the batsmen and pace bowlers and then take spin slowly as the match progressed. "It has a bit of grass covering on it. It's going to be a good wicket for everybody - the quicks, the batters and it will take spin as the Test match goes on.
"Obviously, the curator here has his own ideas. He feels this pitch will turn also. We are going by what he says," the Indian captain said while adding that the wicket looked pretty dry underneath the grassy surface it sported. (Agencies)
Published: Monday, October 25, 2004
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