India’s old habit Tension rises to the surface after SA thrashing
Everytime a visiting side poses a threat, India have taken refuge in turning tracks
It was a true batting wicket. There was no turn on offer for the spinners. You can swing the ball, but when the wicket is flat, we don’t hit them hard. Our strength is entirely different
MUMBAI: Furious after South Africa piled on the agony by scoring a record 438 runs on the Wankhede Pitch, India team director Ravi Shastri abused the curator, Sudhir Naik, a former India opener, for producing a wicket that didn’t offer any assistance to the India bowlers, particularly spinners.
In a sarcastic comment at Naik, Shastri first said “great wicket”, and followed it up with a cuss word saying “g ****** t*** wicket” (in Marathi). Naik retorted: “Don’t teach me about the wicket, I have also played for India.”
Naik has lodged a written complaint with the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), which will decide in its next managing committee meeting on the course of action (whether to take it up with the BCCI).
“It has been conveyed to us by Naik that Shastri abused him during the match, once South Africa’s innings was over,” a top MCA official had said on condition of anonymity soon after the incident.
FRUSTRATED CAMP
Naik and Shastri were unavailable for comments despite repeated attempts made by HT. An MCA official, Naik was appointed pitch consultant in an honorary capacity a month ago to oversee the three grounds affiliated to the MCA — Wankhede, Bandra-Kurla Complex and Kandivali.
BCCI secretary, Anurag Thakur, said: “As for the BCCI taking action, whether it is a player or a member of the support staff if you remember the incident in Australia, and in the last six months we have made it very clear that the rules and regulations are equal for everyone. The same yardstick will follow in every case.”
Shastri’s frustration stems from the fact that the team management had requested the MCA to prepare a turning wicket. However, the MCA was in a dilemma, whether to tinker with the pitch with just two days left. “Their (team management’s) request came so late we couldn’t have done anything to the pitch. I don’t know why so much fuss is being created around the pitch when the touring side has adapted well to the pitches here,” said an MCA source. MS DHONI, on the Wankhede pitch
RISKY BUSINESS
In a series where the visitors have outplayed the hosts by adapting to the heat, conditions and pitches, India have resorted to all sorts of excuses. First, it was against the umpiring by Vineet Kulkarni, and team manager Vinod Phadke was fined for his media comments. South Africa ODI skipper AB de Villiers took a dig at India: “We are not the team, and I am not the captain, who would criticise an umpire’s decision in public.”
Also the timings allotted for the visitors’ training sessions, to suit India’s convenience, have not drawn any criticism. When David Miller said: “We haven’t planned it that way; it was arranged by the hosts. All I make sure is that I don’t miss the bus in the morning for the training.”