SCA chief Niranjan Shah promises a sporting track for first Test at Rajkot

Lately, pitches in India have attracted criticism for being too spinner friendly. Purists of the game believe that rank turners do not support the thought of having a sporting contest between bat and ball and offer a huge advantage to the India. To those who remember the rank turners rolled out for last year’s South Africa series may well know what is being talked about.

However, the SCA Stadium situated in the outskirts of Gujarat’s fourth largest city, promises something contrasting. SCA chief Niranjan Shah has revealed that the pitch for the upcoming opening Test between India and England won’t be played on a strip resembling the ones which were laid out for the South Africans.

“We’re following the standard procedure of preparing pitches and don’t think this one will offer alarming turn in the first half of the match. We want a result, but not before late on the fourth day or fifth day. The ball won’t turn like it does on rank turners. We don’t want the Test to get over early,” Saurashtra Cricket Association secretary Niranjan Shah told Express on Sunday.

The series-opener will be played on a new surface that’s yet to be tested this season. Shah elaborated why it shouldn’t be an out and out turner. “Rajkot is hosting its first Test. There’s interest among the public to come to the ground. For the enjoyment of the crowd also we must make sure that the match doesn’t get over early.”

A former batsman who played 12 first-class matches in the 60s and 70s, Shah has seen different types of pitches in Rajkot during his 44 years as SCA official. The old stadium had a reputation for producing matches where the first innings of teams often didn’t get over. There was the odd green top too before the new stadium earned a name for producing first-class games that got over in three days.

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“Nobody can guarantee how long a match will last, but our effort has been to produce pitches not loaded in favour of a specific type of bowling. Turners make the contest lop-sided by eliminating certain facets of the game. It’s not good from a spectator’s point of view either, because they don’t get to see what they pay for,” said Shah.