Game on as McKenzie steals the show

If the opening day at Chepauk proved anything, it was that this series is going to be a long, hard slog in intense summer heat. South Africa may not be as formidable as Australia, but they have a doggedness and steel about them that suggests these three Tests will be every bit as evenly contested as the ones played out in the southern Cape 15 months ago.

And on a pitch that was waiting with open arms for the batsmens' embrace, Graeme Smith did his side an almighty favour by winning the toss. Batting last on this surface won't be easy, and now it's India that need to worry about the consequences of not posting enough runs in the first innings.

In the early stages of that tour in South Africa, Smith was a sitting duck against Zaheer Khan, caught on his crease and seemingly clueless against the ball darting in. I remember watching him practise diligently, often batting one-handed, to iron out those flaws and the results have been pretty special. Though a century has eluded him, today's 73 was his fourth half-century in succession against India.

The real star of the morning though was Neil McKenzie. Until a few months ago, he was one of cricket's cautionary tales, the profligate talent who didn't do enough with the chances he got. Now one of the seniors of the side, he's grasped the second chance with aplomb, and his batsmanship at this famous old venue was of the highest class.

In a time when heavy bats have made the cross-batted slog so fashionable, there's something ethereally beautifully about watching a batsman play the cover-drive as well as McKenzie does. Once or twice, he barely just pushed at the ball, and the timing was as exquisite as when Damien Martyn produced a sublime innings here in 2004.

The shot of the day though was a clip straight down the ground off Anil Kumble. You were sure mid-on would get to it, but he'd barely moved before the ball streaked past him and on past the rope. It was quite a shame then that the century eluded him, on an afternoon when Harbhajan Singh finally began to bowl a little like he used to in better days.

Kumble had kept India afloat till then, bowling 11 on the trot after lunch to limit the damage. RP Singh, expected to fill Zaheer's shoes here, couldn't find any sort of rhythm, dishing out a four-ball every over, and it was left to Sreesanth to pose the occasional question with the ball that left the right-hander or darted back into Smith.

It's no coincidence that India's best results abroad in recent times have come on bowler-friendly pitches, and on surfaces like this, the four-bowler strategy looks to be a poor one. In the absence of an allrounder - Irfan Pathan can't currently find a place in the XI - you badly need someone who can do the tourniquet job that Jacques Kallis does so effectively for South Africa. Sourav Ganguly wasn't used today, and Virender Sehwag didn't do much, leaving Kumble and Harbhajan to wheel away for marathon spells on a pitch that offered no dramatic assistance.

With Australia and England due to visit, and pitches in Sri Lanka likely to be similar, India will soon have to make some tough choices when it comes to team composition. South Africa or Australia can afford to play only four specialist bowlers because they know taht Kallis and Andrew Symonds will chip in when required. For India to be similarly effective on these pitches, they'll eventually have to jettison a batsman and play Pathan or another bowler.

That brings us to the pitches themselves. It's hard to be overly critical of the curator here, after 12 days of rain in the past month, but surely we're entitled to ask why a team that can win at Trent Bridge, the Wanderers and most notably at the WACA appears to be so terrified of leaving a blade of grass on the pitch for home Test matches.

Comments

[SanjayN]

One of the reasons that curators have such little time to prepare a wicket is that the BCCI is a specialist in determining venues and dates at the last possible minute.

Often we do not know the details till a few weeks/months before a tour begins. This gives the fans who wish to be at a stadium to watch a live game little or no time to prepare travel plans. The BCCI takes it for granted that for Tests in India, no-one really shows up to watch a game, and for ODIs, they will fill the stadium even if they announce a game the nite before!

Compare the Indian schedule and planning with the ECB. Dates are known for the home series in England a good ONE year in advance allowing folks to properly plan their schedule. This includes curators, spectators, caterers, everyone.

There's no planning in Indian cricket, the powers that be will try to squeeze a series in by picking up the phone and speaking to their counterparts - often their Asian buddies in Pak/Lanka. After this SA Test series is over, we don't know if India will play a ODI series involving SA in India, or will they travel to Bangla for a tri series? It's still under discussion, and we are talking about games that will take place in just a few weeks.

They can't even figure out which country will host the games. The curator has no chance.

Oh, and is India going to Zim for a Test and ODI series this year? It's in the FTP list but this is a topic that is conveniently avoided.

[SanjayN]

Apparently, there was a Ranji 1 dayer played at this venue a few weeks ago, and then some rain prevented the curator from preparing the wicket. I find that a poor excuse. I don't think it's rained that much, and why was the Ranji game schedueled here when the priority should have been to prepare a good wicket?

Unfortunately, not many people in India give much credence to Test Matches. As it's been pointed out here, the curators have in the past prepared good sporting pitches - when they want to.

I have a bad feeling this series will be similar to when NZ last toured India - a dull drawn Test series with not a single moment to cherish.

[Homer]

Something I put together during the last Ranji season (2006/07)
---
Stadium Win Draw
Nagpur 2 1
Delhi 0 4
Mumbai 3 0
Jaipur 0 1
Mohali 1 2
---
In Mohali's case,the pitch for the game that yielded a result was a green top. Incidentally, Bengal played Punjab in that game. In the Bengal ranks was a certain Saurav Chandidas Ganguly. The scores in that game were

156/10 Bengal
157/10 Punjab
148/10 Bengal
133/10 Punjab

Here are the innings break ups of the two drawn games

208/10 Gujarat
503/9 decl Punjab
125/2 Gujarat
353/10 Punjab
348/10 Mumbai
113/3 Punjab

including 4 centuries.

Has anyone from the media asked, nay demanded for Daljit Singh's ouster as Chief Curator for producing absolute tripe wickets after producing a green top?

Has anyone bothered to demand penalties from Inderjit Singh Bindra's Punjab Cricket Association for allowing the pitch character to change so dramatically over the course of 3 games?
--
Maharashtra played its home games at different venues - there is no one place they call home.

Has anyone said that this is not on?
--
Feroz Shah Kotla produced four draws in 4 games with three innings scores in excess of 400.

Has anyone called for a ban on the Kotla? Has anyone demanded penalties of Arun Jaitley's DDCA for producing dull, characterless wickets?
--
Has anyone asked why the Chinnaswamy stadium hosted only one game ( 4 day) this season?
---
Likewise, whatever happened to the green top at Nagpur the moment Shashank Manohar came into power ?
---
Thing is, if these guys want, they can make pretty good Test wickets ( the win loss ratio in the Ranji Trophy attests to this).. It is simply that they either do not want to rock the boat or take on the powers that be :)

Cheers

[Atul Bedade's Ghost]

Whats up with the Indian pitches for test matches lately?? Those sleeping beauties prepared for the India-Pak test series late last year and now this belter in Chennai. Bring back the curators who prepared those sporting wickets for the India-Australia test series in 2001?? Now the BCCI can sleep on their IPL cash-beds while watching these snore-fests..Im glad they didnt yank one test from this series and add some 7-8 ODIs instead..

[Dileep]

Don't think there was any grass on it in the first place. Pretty depressing really. You tend to switch off when you find the new-ball bowlers getting no assistance whatsoever.
Your reading of the game is the same as mine. In fact, I was thinking of 2001 when Matty Hayden gave Australia a similar start and India then came back to post 510 and win the game. Not saying it'll happen again though.

[Homer]

Was any grass shaved off the wicket prior to the match starting?

I haven't read about it anywhere so the only conclusion I reach is that the curator has not had much time to work on the wicket.

That said, India is not out of the contest yet - We need to limit the Proteas to around 450 and then bat once and bat big and bat time - basically bat till tea on Day 4 and try to accrue a lead of 100-150 runs.

If we manage to do that, it will be an interesting third innings for the Proteas :)

Cheers

[Atul Bedade's Ghost]

Am I the only one annoyed with the news that England play only 2 Test matches when they visit India later this year? But they had the time to fit in a whopping 7 one day games.. And when India played England in England t'was a 4 test match series.. Unfair no? Wish the BCCI spent more time planning the international schedules than rolling in the IPL cash!!