As India and New Zealand prepare for an intense test series, the focus continues to remain on the pitch for the first test at Kanpur. The Green Park Stadium traditionally has been a good sporting wicket, and according to the curator, things will be no different this time around. A sporting wicket is expected to assist spinners from the fourth day and thus things tend to get pretty difficult for teams batting in the fourth innings.
In the pre-match press conference, Indian coach Anil Kumble clearly stated that he didn’t demand any particular sort of a wicket. The last time India played a test at home, it was marred by the controversy surrounding the rank turners prepared to assist the home spinners over South Africa. That episode didn’t go down too well with the cricketing fraternity.
“Nobody is demanding anything,” Kumble said. “We will go into the game thinking that our spinners are better. We hope the performance we produced in the West Indies continues at home as well. Yes, there will be spin and opinions will be formed after the first ball. But since I am the coach, I can’t think like that. We make our plans as the game goes on,” said Kumble.
“According to me, it is a typical Kanpur wicket. It is the start of the season, it has rained a lot and the surface has not been used much of late. It is looking good. Having said that, I believe that the talk should be about cricket that is played on the pitch and not the pitch. In the team meetings, we have discussed this only. Whatever wicket we get, we will adapt and play,” said Kumble, when quizzed about his views on the pitch.
Kumble praised the Kiwi spinners and said that it was heartening to see spinners doing well from all teams. “The fact that they have three spinners, yes we watched them, at least I watched the two spinners out of three in T20 World Cup where they played a significant role in the team.” “Heartening to see spinners play a major role in other teams and not just the Indian team.” “We respect the opponents, not just in the spin department but in all departments. They have different spin variations, which you don’t see often in a foreign team,” Kumble said.