India vs New Zealand: Green Park pitch busts dustbowl stereotype, Dravid rewards Rs 35,000 to ground staff
The Green Park pitch exceeded the longevity some of its own ground-staff had anticipated, despite pre-match whispers that the match would not last five days and the surface would deteriorate fiendishly, as some of the recent decks for Test matches in the country. But what the Kanpur track provided was a nail-biter of a contest that went the full distance, and despite India being denied a win by the narrowest of margins, it was a draw to be remembered for a long time.
After the game, India’s coach Rahul Dravid would reward the ground-staff. UPCA would inform the media that, “Mr Rahul Dravid has paid Rs 35,000 personally to our groundsmen.”
The reservations about the wicket, expressed before the game, turned out to be unfounded. Green Park pitches rarely crack up dangerously, rather they break up insidiously, progressively getting slower and lower.
But as is often the case, it has been a case of stereotyping. One made-to-order turner 13 years ago — the instant reaction to a galling defeat — sufficed for notoriety. In three Test matches since, it has reverted to type — slow, low turners, a litmus test of patience, for batsmen, bowlers, fielders and the audience. Games here slow-burn, like the Awadhi cuisine that relies on stewing in slow fire. The cuisine, like the five days of this Test threw up, is delicious.
The talk of a turner was conjecture. The Indian team management hadn’t demanded one from the weightlifter-turned-electrician-turned-curator Shiv Kumar, in a break from the usual. The curator was not inclined to dish out one to please the management either. Maybe, it was New Zealand coach Gary Stead’s early (mis)judgement of the pitch that sparked the whispers.
Moreover, a turner here, in early winter, is near impossible, even if one had tried. Dig into Mohammad Kaif’s local knowhow. Kaif, who has spent most of his cricketing life playing for Uttar Pradesh, wrote on Twitter: “Having spent so many years at Green Park, I can say it’s difficult to prepare a rank turner here in winters. And with Ganga flowing not too far and temperature low, the pitch doesn’t crumble. Baat maano bada time spent kiya hai is ground pe. This is my second home.” The match against South Africa that gave Green Park the stigma was hosted in summer, in mid-April, when temperatures hover in the mid-to-late 30s.
https://indianexpress.com/article/s...oundsmen-for-preparing-sporting-pitch-647538/
