Pallekele wicket, a seamer's delight - Opinion
Last year's Cricket World Cup lead to the blossoming of state of the art stadiums, with world class facilities across the subcontinent. The Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy is one such stadium that was established in 2009, and in a short span of time, has become a premier sporting facility in the country.
The stadium has been modeled along the lines of Super Sport Park in Centurion, Pretoria, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757, where grass banks to the side add to its many charms. For touring sides that have played in Pallekele, the experience differs considerably to those who are accustomed to the wear and tear of the SSC and who brazenly stereotype Sri Lanka as a destination where spin is king.
The stadium apart, the pitch at the PICS offers significant lateral movement for seamers and in overcast conditions can be a nightmare for batsman. This was on showcase in the recently concluded ODI series between Pakistan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sohail-Tanvir-c90665’s nagging line and length.
Not many high scoring games have been played at Pallekele recently with the noted exception in the shortest format of the game, where Sri Lanka piled up 198, courtesy Dilshan’s ruthless innings of 104 not out against the Aussies last year. That game aside, many seamers have benefitted from what Pallekele has to offer, with its serene surroundings, relatively cooler climate and a pitch which has plenty to offer, forcing the batsmen to think twice about where their off stump is. Bowlers such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319’s 5 wicket haul in the final Test of the three-match series being played at the moment is a prime example of what pitching the ball up on this surface can offer, which is unique for traditional subcontinent pitches.
Unlike many other pitches around the subcontinent such as the PCA stadium in Mohali or the Sher-E-Bangla Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka, the PICS does not wear down as the days of a Test match progress. Mohali for example, had flattened out on numerous occasions when Australia and England toured http://www.senore.com/Cricket/BAW-Mendis-c1127 (when he is playing). Otherwise dropping short on the track and expecting momentous turn is similar to asking a Greyhound to win the London Derby. Turn is available but subcontinent like turn is virtually nonexistent on this beautiful venue.
Matches at Pallekele can thus be considered exciting, especially for those teams which hail from countries where pitches assist the faster men i.e. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 or South Africa.
Evenly contested matches, something that Test cricket is baying for, could well and truly materialize at Pallekele, where the home side boasts an array of top quality seamers themselves. Bone dry tracks such as the one at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, where extracting any sort of movement is virtually impossible, has resulted in one-sided draws in the past which is a damning indictment. Draws can well and truly be a thing of the past, as the act of importing synthetic grass from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20 around the corner, games at Pallekele could make for interesting viewing.
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