'Our Curators Are Incompetent'

The second Test belonged to the New Zealand bowlers. After their batsmen occupied the crease for almost half the match,the bowlers, led by DarylTuffey and Daniel Vettori., built on the advantage by putting pressure on the Indian batsmen throughout with accuratebowling. 

Tuffy has been a revelation in the two Test matches. Although not known for genuine pace as Shane Bond is, hedemonstrated how a good line and length -- corridor bowling -- can play a major role even on placid and docile wickets.

He kept the basics simple by not trying for pace but relying on a nagging line around the off-stump and banking onsubtlemovement off the pitch. Accuracy was the key to his success.

As for Vettori, well, he is currently the best left-arm spinner in the world. He relished bowling on Indian surfacesthough his figures do not quite reflect his control. And if you thought Vettori was the bowler of the series, don't forgethe saved the match for New Zealand with the bat in Motera!

If India could have forced the follow-on in Ahmedabad, the Test could've been as good as over.

Indeed talking of the follow-on, I can see the logic of Stephen Fleming carrying on his first innings on the thirdmorning. In Ahmedabad, Ganguly was justified in declaring at 500 for 5 because he was the home captain and he had thebowlers who knew the conditions like the back of their hands.

In Mohali, Fleming had his own reasons because a touring captain would like to completely make sure he is in a positionto enforce the follow-on. Against batsmen at home in familiar conditions, a touring team needsan extra cushion of runs.

It nearly worked for Fleming and the game was alive till the final session.

I have no doubt though if India had won the toss in Mohali, they would've ended as winners. The wicket was perfectfor batting on the first two days. I know there has been loads of criticism againstthe Indians for batting too slowly on thefourth day, but look at it this way -- India had lost both Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid within a few overs on thefourth morning.

The hosts couldn't have afforded another setback at that stage and it explains whythe Indians were so cautious.

The New Zealand batsmen adapted to the conditions very quickly with the help of some really batsmen-friendly pitches.

Our ground curators contributed a great deal in their success. Lou Vincent and Mark Richardson made the best use of thewicket and gave a solid base for the ever-improving Scott Styris to come and pitch in with his contribution.

Craig McMillan, one of the few who has played Shane Warne with consummate ease, did exhibit his prowess and was aggressive onthe Indian bowlers.

I thought Zaheer and Laxmipathy Balaji tried too hard for the initial breakthrough and drifted from the basics. They didstray a lot which helped the New Zealanders to capitalise.

There was so little purchase for the spinners on the first two days that Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh had totoil real hard. I am sure the Indian spinners wouldn't have great memories of this Test match.

The Indian batting slipped into extra gear almost immediately but the pressure of the mammoth total did tell upon them in the end. Sehwag played a gem of a knock and his partner, the young Aakash Chopra, again proved he is here tostay for long.

Sachin Tendulkar didn't leave any impact in this series and would like to make amends in the triangular series.

V.V.S. Laxman was regal during his first innings hundred and when he is in such form, the memories of his Kolkata knockagainst the Australians is refreshed over and over again. He stood firm to save the match for India in both the innings.

The amount of runs scored in the last two Test matches suggest the attempt made couple of years ago by the apex bodyof Indian cricket to upgrade the wickets by relaying them has proved futile.

A good sporting wicket is so important to retain interest in Test cricket. Slow and docile wickets like Motera and Mohali can further reduce the already dwindling crowd for Test matches.

The need of the hour is to replace ignorant curators with knowledgeable ones. Otherwise it could prove catastrophicfor Test cricket. Having tried to make them understand the need for good sporting wickets on so many occasions; havingtold them what changes need to be done and how wickets are prepared abroad, it seems all such advicehas fallen on deaf ears. 

The fact is, the concerned curators are highly incompetent when it comes tothe understanding of soil mechanics.Some of the maalis (groundsmen) have better practical knowledge than the so-called curators. The bowlers are thesufferers and Indian cricket is the casualty.

PTI