The Chepauk pitch has invited lot of criticism. There is a certain charm, a certain contentedness when a test is won outside of one’s own confines. That charm and contentedness is increased manifold when that ends up in a series win. This is because it is that hard to win an overseas test series. It is the single reason why teams take great pride whenever they win overseas and especially in alien conditions. It is also one of the greatest thing to admire about Test cricket. Unlike the limited overs for which the rules and conditions is more or less the same across the world, Test cricket has its own way to telling the shorter ones who the boss is.
Home teams are getting stronger
The current India against England is one such series because it is that difficult for a visiting team to win in India and it is the same case for a visiting team to win in England. Nowadays, even New Zealand are proving to be masters in their surroundings. Every country and infact, every pitch offers unique challenge to the players. Wicket in Australia and South Africa offers bounce to the bowlers which makes life difficult for the batsmen. The world renowned fast wickets like Perth and Johannesburg. Pitches in England and New Zealand offers seam movement. Pitches in the sub-continent offers the spinners who are otherwise rendered impotent in the above conditions, something of their own to get one back. It takes great deal of skill, persistence and perseverance to overcome such odds and emerge victorious.
The satisfaction in winning an away series
Series wins at a foreign location is rare. A lot of things will have to fall in place to achieve that. Excellent batsmen backed up marvellous bowlers and fielders are a must to achieve series wins. They are the ones who will transcend the prevailing conditions and will raise above everyone else. It is pretty difficult for the sub-continent teams to win in England or Australia or South Africa. It is the same for those teams to win in India. New Zealand have always struggled against South Africa and mostly against Australia. This shows the impossible it is to win and when it is successful, the feeling of having amassed something extraordinary can be felt by fans of the team.
This is the reason the West Indies team of the 80s and early 90, the Australian team of the 90s and early 2000s and the South African team of the early 2010s are special. For those teams, nothing mattered. Not the pitch, not the ball, not the opposition or not even the crowds. They won against every odd and in every country. They had players capable of outstripping the host nation and succeed.
The Chepauk test match
It is in the light of these that the 2nd test between India and England must be looked. England instead of looking at this as an opportunity, have gone on a complete whingeing mode. They have complained about how the pitch behaves. The entire English media have criticised the Chepauk pitch feverishly. The media have conveniently forgotten the inability of the English batsmen to play spin.
The various comments
Martin Samuels has called the pitch a disgrace
Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook have blamed the pitch as well.
‘The pitch is a stinker for Test cricket. I think spin is great entertainment for the game but I think this pitch has done too much too soon.’
David Lloyd also has similar opinion
However, Michael Atherton had a different take.
Reality bites, as have India’s spinners. Pant, Ashwin and Foakes outstanding today,” Atherton tweeted.
“Pitch very tricky but worth repeating point made y’day, it has been very tricky from the start. Toss not decisive.”
Infact, Vaughan agreed that if he were an Indian, he could have done the same.
India’s performance on the same strip
However, what most of them conveniently forgets is that on the same pitch, Rohit Sharma scored a scintillating 160. You can say that he played on the first day when the pitch is generally good for batting. If that is the case, what about the hundred that Ashwin scored on the 3rd day towards the end? He showed that if you have the skill, you can score runs on this wicket.
India on this wicket scored more than 600 runs which would not have been possible if the pitch was a horrible one. The fact of the matter is that the English batsmen and the English bowlers did not have the skill to succeed as correctly pointed out by Nasser. England spinner failed. England were defeated in the minds even before they had set their foot on the ground.
Every country prepares pitches to suit their team
There is a reason England & New Zealand prepare seaming wickets whenever an Asian team travel. There is a reason Australia wants the visiting teams to play at the Gabba first. Every nation prepares pitches that will help their team or rather that will not have any sort of help to the opposition. England prepared a Lord’s pitch a couple of years ago when India travelled which wasn’t that different from the outfield. Graeme Smith complained a few years ago that the pitch at Kingsmead resembled a sub-continent pitch and that his team was disadvantaged.
Back in 2014, when the first test at Trent Bridge was drawn, England made a huge issue out of it stating that the pitch did not offer any assistance to their bowlers. In all the cases, the opponent were India. I do not remember the Indian team or the media complaining. Infact, it was quite to the contrary. The Indians were roasted because they failed to adjust to the situation.
The Dukes ball is used for every game in England. It helps the swing bowlers immensely. The English bowlers have bowled with it ever since cricket was born. Is it proper to ask them to stop using Dukes and instead shift to Kookkabura or SG? It is not.
Conclusion
It is better to leave the pitches in various parts of the world as it is. If the pitches are going to be standardised, it will lead to the same game being played over and over again. The recent Indian victory in Australia will be cherished by the Indians for a longtime because that was achieved in the bouncy Australian wickets. Every nation must understand that to become the undisputed number one, they must be capable of winning on any type of pitch. Countering the argument that seaming pitches like the Lord’s one will deteriorate and become good on day 5 whereas spinning pitches will deteriorate and become worse on day 4. There is nothing wrong if the game finishes in 4 days. There will eventually come a day when test cricket will be reduced to 4 days.
What do you think of the Chepauk pitch and other pitches around the world? Please leave your comments.
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