The Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium of Vizag, which is scheduled to host the fifth and final ODI of the India-New Zealand ODI series may see the ODI slipping off their hands as the newly laid deck is under the scanner due to its strange behaviour of the pitch during the Ranji Trophy game between Rajasthan and Assam.
According to the reports, the quality of the pitch was so poor that the ball was not even rising to the knee length and stood as low to the ankle length. The 4 day game between Rajasthan and between Assam was finished in just three days with a total of 17 wickets falling on the third and eventual final day of the game. This raises question over the nature and durability of the pitch as in this condition, it will be the bowlers who will make merry as the match progresses.
Th Andhra Cricket Association chief and a member of lower house of Parliament G Gangaraju also agreed that the surface wasn’t fit to be used.
“The pitch was re-laid four months back but because of the rains they couldn’t prepare it properly. The BCCI would be sending a curator/inspector, likely on Wednesday, for inspection and he will decide if the pitch is good enough to host the fifth ODI,” he quoted in a conversation with The Indian Express.
Sunil Doshi, the Assam coach also raised concern over this and said ‘They were obviously preparing for the ODI at the end of the month, but our match was hit because of that. Because of the heavy watering, the pitch sort of held up for the first two days and things got ugly on the third day, as the pitch threw up variable bounce,
“The ball was going through at ankle height sometimes. 17 wickets fell on the third day, and 11 of them were lbw. You get the idea, the pitch we played on was certainly not good enough for the game. The ODI pitch was in the same square, the one adjacent to where we played and I would be surprised if it turns out any better,” Joshi said.
The BCCI chief curator will visit the stadium today and a final decision will be made after that. Looking at the current situation, it looks like Vizag may lose a chance to host the ODI.