'It's a result oriented wicket'

Faisal Shariff in Madras

As he sat in the middle of the ground, his back to the square laid out for the third and deciding Test of the three-Test series between India and Australia, K Parthasarthy seemed pretty proud of the wicket he had prepared.

"It is a sporting wicket. The first hour will see good bounce. After that it's good for the batsmen. It will be a batting wicket for the first two days and start taking turn on the third afternoon," the curator of the M A Chidambaram stadium told rediff.com.

The wicket has been his domain for the past three decades and he understands it more than anyone else.

He claims it is going to be the best wicket of the Test series. The wicket is designed to help fast bowlers, batsmen and then the spinners, which according to Parthasarthy, is an ideal Test wicket.

"The Bombay wicket was very bad. How can you shave the grass off the wicket one day before the Test? The topsoil was so badly damaged, that it took turn from day one. That is not the way it's done. I reckon that the clay was of low quality. Instead of putting more clay to toughen the wicket they may have used more red soil, even that I reckon was not of good quality, since it wasn't mixing with the clay. So the wicket was sandy and powdery. The top layer failed to bind."

He, however, feels that the Calcutta wicket was decent. It helped the batsmen and the spinners though it didn't help the pace bowlers as much.

The Indian team must have used the heavy roller on the final day, he believes. (A privilege of the team batting in the morning).

"That gave them an enormous advantage. The heavy roller just makes the wicket unplayable on the final day. That is what the Indians took advantage of. It just cracks up and takes vicious turn," added the 49-year-old curator.

"We have put red soil on the wicket, then put one inch of clay on top to make the surface hard. We removed the grass ten days ago. We have been snipping away at the grass since last week before watering it. To bind the wicket we have been sprinkling dead grass on it and then running the heavy roller. That has made this wicket hard and even. Since the last two days we have reduced watering and rolling to help our side," he added.

"Bright harsh sunlight could crack the wicket up," he cautions. "It could crack on the third day itself. The wicket won't be unplayable but it will definitely pose problems for batsmen."

Parthasarthy defends the fact that home sides ask for wickets to suit them. "What is wrong with shaving the grass off? Do the Aussies shave the grass for us when we go there?" he asks.

"In my 30-year career, I prepared a bad wicket just once. In 1989, the wicket I prepared when Narendra Hirwani took those 16 wickets was bad. I remember Richie Richardson came to me after the game and screamed, 'Have you ever played Test cricket, you f*****? Is this a Test wicket?''

"I was too scared to talk to him so I asked Ravi Shastri to mediate. G S Ramchand was the team manager and managed to calm Richie down. Ramchand then told me that when they toured the West Indies, the curators used to prepare wickets with a ridge on them so that the ball would shoot and deviate of the wicket to intimidate batsmen."

The story of the Chepauk Test when Hirwani scalped 16 on debut was that Shastri wanted to win at all costs, so he had asked for a turner from day one. Incidentally that was the only Test Shastri led India in. The board officials informed the ground officials that they wanted a dusty track and the ground officials had to comply.

As for the current Test, it seems that skipper Ganguly has exercised his clout. This time orders have come from the pitch committee members, who have asked for a wicket with low bounce and turn from day three. John Wright has also asked for a wicket of low bounce that assists spinners.

"Will Shane Warne get some wickets here?" I asked.

"Warne will not get any help from this wicket, you watch. He will not get anything here," answered the curator. No reasons given.

The wicket was covered with a blue plastic sheet with a ' durree' (thick cloth cover) underneath to avoid sweating.

"Using these plastic sheets is the reason why wickets in India are getting slower. The wicket needs some breathing place. It is alive as well, if you shut its nose, how will it breathe. We should make arrangements for covers with ventilators to avoid sweating," he adds.

"Are you happy with the nature of wickets here in India?" I asked.

"Of course. We prepare batsmen who can't play top class fast bowling what is the point in preparing bouncy wickets?" he asked with contempt.

Almost 96 per cent of the time, the side which wins the toss has opted to bat. And it seems unlikely that the trend will be reversed.

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