The legendary Sunil Gavaskar has given his take on the Bengaluru pitch which hosted the second Test between India and Sri Lanka earlier this month. The day/night Test match played at the Chinnaswamy stadium was India's third pink-ball match at home, and one that finished inside three days as the Men in Blue registered an emphatic 238 runs. The Bengaluru pitch received a 'below-average' rating from the ICC as former pacer Javagal Srinath did not hold back in having his reservations about his home town surface. (Also Read: 'They can solve the puzzle by adding him. It's a big call': Irfan Pathan offers unique death-bowling solution to KKR)
Weighing in on the issue, Gavaskar feels that it was expected of India to use pitches that would aid their bowlers given their standing in the World Test Championships. After India were beaten 1-2 in South Africa, it was important to win at home and although Gavaskar mentioned that it was understandable on India's part to produce a pitch more to their liking, it robbed the fans of witnessing five full days of Test cricket.
"India cleaned up yet another series win with another three-day finish to move up the points table for the World Test Championship. Their next few Test matches are likely to be away from home and after what happened in South Africa it is understandable that they did not want to take any chances and prepared pitches that suited their strength. What that does do however is that the batsmen, who the crowds come to watch, are also troubled by the opposition bowlers and unable to get the big scores that their millions of followers want to see," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.
There was plenty of turn on offer on Day 1 and even though the pitch got better on the rest of the days, a total of 16 wickets fell on the opening day of the Bengaluru Test. India were reduced to 86/4 but from there a counter-attacking 39 from Rishabh Pant and a masterful 94 from Shreyas Iyer allowed the hosts to put on a first-innings total of 252. On a turning deck, Gavaskar was impressed with the kind of performances Iyer and Pant produced.
{{/usCountry}}There was plenty of turn on offer on Day 1 and even though the pitch got better on the rest of the days, a total of 16 wickets fell on the opening day of the Bengaluru Test. India were reduced to 86/4 but from there a counter-attacking 39 from Rishabh Pant and a masterful 94 from Shreyas Iyer allowed the hosts to put on a first-innings total of 252. On a turning deck, Gavaskar was impressed with the kind of performances Iyer and Pant produced.
{{/usCountry}}"On pitches which are challenging, a batsman needs not only technique and temperament, but a huge dose of luck too. The other approach is to bat in the limited overs method, where the batsman regularly takes a chance trusting his power and timing to hit the ball into the stands or the open spaces. Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer did that with aplomb and in the process showed that with a bit of daring and some luck, runs could be scored," said the former India captain.