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Pitch kicks up more dust on Test eve
India, looking to breakdown Australia with spin, are finding it hard to face the reality of being forced to play on a green-top, reports Pradeep Magazine.
When speculation takes precedence over fact, one thing is sure: the general state of affairs is confused.
India, who were looking to work their way through the Australian batting with their traditional home weapon of spin, are finding it hard to reconcile to the unexpected reality of being forced to play on a grassy Nagpur wicket.
For a couple of hours on Monday morning, while a lawn mower was busy trimming the grass on the wicket, officials, journalists and selectors were huddled in a group to weigh the pros and cons of what effect the wicket would have on India's chances in the Test.
It will be stating the obvious to say that this completely unexpected turn of events has left Sourav Ganguly puzzled and angry. It reflects very poorly on the Indian Board that they can't provide their team with a spin-friendly wicket.
No wonder Adam Gilchrist was all smiles at the press conference while saying: "This looks like a good Australian wicket."
Ganguly, ever since he has got to Nagpur, has been trying his best to convince host association chief Shashank Manohar and groundsman Kishore Pradhan to shave off the grass.
