Episode #132 Do Home Teams in West Not Advice or Lobby with Pitch Curators for Home Games ?
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Indian captain Rohit Sharma recently brought up an interesting point regarding cricket pitches. In a press conference, he talked about how the Indian think tank decided how a Pitch should be, act, and behave before a series started. However, there was criticism from the Western media about how a coach and a captain could decide pitches or what the pitches are before the games begin. This brings up a couple of questions. Why can’t these Western teams do the same thing? Why don’t they deviate from green tops or seaming conditions all the time?
Isn’t it always the case that the home side asks their Pitch Curators to produce a winning track according to their strengths? Each country has its own type of special tracks (India- spinning tracks, Sri Lanka- dead tracks, Pakistan- “highway tracks”, etc.). The issue is when claims of engineered or “doctored” tracks are made. Another issue is: does the curator work for just the ground or the organization of the country where the ground is, the BCCI for example? Is there an independent view of the curator or is it dictated by the team management?
One thing that also is worth mentioning is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Tests 1 and 2 were won by India. However, Australia got back into the series when all seemed lost, winning Test 3 and therefore qualifying for the final of the 2021-23 World Test Championship. This Test 3 happened on an Indore rank turner, which made the Indians’ plans to win by spin backfire. With this loss, India has put itself at risk of dropping out of the final two spots in the WTC rankings and needs a Test 4 victory to not be worried about Sri Lanka. The Lankans have a two-game series coming up against New Zealand around the conclusion of the BGT and can qualify for the WTC final with two wins and an India loss or draw.
This was part of the discussion on the State of Cricket podcast, episode 132. Other aspects included Rohit Sharma’s pitch preference for the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, some more discussion about the WTC results (if India cannot secure a fourth-Test victory, Sri Lanka is quite possibly through to the final), and who is to blame for some of the hastily-made team management decisions (dropping Ajinkya Rahane completely out of the picture, giving Lokesh Rahul the vice-captaincy, etc.).
If you are interested in the rest of the conversation, please check out the links below:
Listen to Full Episode
Leave a comment on which topic you think we were mostly right or mostly wrong about, and as always, enjoy ! Follow the channel on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @crickethuddle if you are interested.
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The post Episode #132 Do Home Teams in West Not Advice or Lobby with Pitch Curators for Home Games ? appeared first on Cricket Huddle.
