Dhiraj Parsana, the former Saurashtra pace bowler who is now on the pitches committee of the Board of Control for Cricket of India, is one who looks towards the future with a lot of hope. In fact, he has a positive outlook towards most things in life.
Thus, even as criticism of the Motera wicket, which has been branded a batting paradise by all and sundry, mounts, Parsana maintains that the Gujarat Cricket Association has done a wonderful job.
"The GCA is the best association in the country by a long shot," says Parsana. "They have been doing everything that has been asked of them. That is why we can now see the changes in the look of the stadium.
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Venkat Sundaram, head of the pitches committee, does not see any improvement in Indian pitches in the last two years. "What improvement are we talking about? They are still the same," he avers.
Not so Parsana, who has been serving the committee for more than two years now. The former paceman believes there is definite improvement. "It has not been in leaps and bounds," he agrees, "but things will start to really look up now."
Why now? Because it has been around two years since the pitches were relaid and "only now are they starting to settle down".
Nadeem Memon, curator of the pitch in Ahmedabad, said he had specially imported red soil from Mumbai. But that is exactly what the pitches committee is trying to avoid, says Parsana. He argues that the climatic conditions in Gujarat are different from those in Mumbai and so it is folly to import soil from there. "But Nadeem is comfortable working with this soil. The real challenge will be to use the locally available black cotton soil and mould it."
G Kasturirangan, former head of the pitches committee, had quit the post in frustration earlier this year when none of his recommendations were carried out by the BCCI. Parsana was very close to Kasturirangan. Together they visited all the grounds in India with the sole intention of trying to establish a new work ethic among the staff.
"Kasturi was a great man," says Parsana. "He had so much knowledge. He was an engineer and a horticulturist by trade. He knew about the different varieties of grass and soil types. We could not have had a better man than him. I knew he had health ailments and that may have led to his resignation. Who knows what will happen? I may go soon."
Parsana, it is evident, holds Kasturirangan in very high regard. "He was very good at making the groundspeople understand what he wanted them to do. But the same cannot be said about him with the BCCI officials. He just believed in doing his best, but sometimes you need more than that.
"His replacement, Sundaram, is more a man of the world. He may not have as much knowledge as Kasturi, but he is learning. He is, on the other hand, very good at getting work done."
Ask Parsana which are the best Test centres in India in his opinion and his reply is prompt: "Kolkata is very good, because the grass grows naturally there. The Eden Gardens are situated on the banks of the Hooghly and the soil is very good too. Chennai and Mumbai have always been among the best while Ahmedabad and Bangalore are coming up nicely too."
Most importantly, curators are now beginning to realise, he says, that the pitch is the single most important factor in the game. "The BCCI has been taking a lot of interest in the game. Let's hope that continues."
