Low and slow pitch evokes frowns

The wicket at the M Chinnaswamy stadium has undergone a drastic change over the last few years. From a sporting track that used to be, it has turned into a placid track, offering little assistance to bowlers, reports G Krishnan.

The wicket at the M Chinnaswamy stadium has undergone a drastic change over the last few years. From a sporting track that used to be, it has turned into a placid track, offering little assistance to bowlers.

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The square at the stadium has been re-laid twice in the last eight years. However, the players are far from satisfied. "The bounce is too low," is the general grouse. And a look at the wicket on the eve of the South-Central Duleep Trophy game suggested that it's going to be a lop-sided contest, with bat dominating the ball completely.

"The pitch will get slower and lower as the match will progress," said South Zone skipper V. V. S. Laxman. His counterpart, Mohammed Kaif, Central Zone skipper, couldn't agree more. "It's a good pitch to bat on," he said.

The general feeling about the change in the nature of wicket is that curator Narayan Raju has tried various kind of soil on the surface, and, as a result, the wicket hasn't settled down.

The other reason could be the excessive number of matches played on the track, which leaves curators with little time to prepare a sporting track. Some also feel that consultants from New Zealand worked on the track without knowing the local conditions, and spoiled the surface.