Sri Lankan curators under fire for dull pitches against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750
India and Sri Lanka are currently fighting it out in the decider of the three match Test series at the P Sara Oval, Colombo. After Sri Lanka’s remarkable 10-wicket victory in the 1stTest at Galle, the second Test between the two Asian Test playing nations ended in a dull draw at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo.
Experts blamed the pitch at the SSC for the tame draw. Both captains vehemently reconfirmed that the pitch at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground was a batting friendly paradise and allowed no chance for the bowlers. The curators, on the other hand, have defended the track and blamed the poor bowling performance from both sides.
However, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Anurudda-Polonowita-c45218, the national curator of Sri Lanka said that he is pretty satisfied with the track. The curator opined that the reason behind such high totals was the strong batting line-up of both the sides.
After looking at the Indian batting line, they were in the game with six or seven top-class batsmen. Same was the case with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Muttiah-Muralitharan-c78157 – the 800 wicket taker and Lasith Malinga in the first test. Murali took 8 wickets after bowling 61.4 overs while Malinga’s final figures concluded with 7 wickets for 105 runs. In the second test, Murali retired while injury ruled Malinga out of the match. Polonowita said that the absence of these two bowlers made the track look flat.
The national curator of Sri Lanka said that the fans and the experts should talk about the weak bowling lines rather than blaming the track. The skippers of the side are complaining about the batting wicket and say that bowlers had no chance. The curator said that Sri Lanka could have won the second match as well if the side had used the same bowling at the SSC which played at Galle.
The curator said that the bowling of the visitors was even worse. He said that the Indian bowlers were being mauled by the Lankan batters from the first day of the tour. By citing an example of the practice match between the Indian and Sri Lanka Board President's XI at Colts Club, he said that Sri Lanka A plundered 514 for 9 and then in the 1st Test at Galle, the hosts hammered 520 for 8. Polonowita argued why everyone was surprised with a total of 642 for 4 at the SSC then.
Concluding the entire scenario in a single sentence, Polonowita said, “Both sides had weak bowling line ups, while both the sides had brilliant batsmen.”
He said that the audience pays to see quality cricket and if the teams want to finish the five-day game in three days, then the curators cannot fix the tracks according to their wishes because that is not cricket. Even the commentators were not spared by the curator’s criticism when he said that they discussed the pitch because they had nothing to talk about. Polonowita further said that it would be far better if the commentators discuss the bowling as well rather than criticising the pitch.
The Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo is a track that one cannot predict as such. It is the track on which Sri Lanka set a target of only 181 runs against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in 2006-07, was also recorded on the same SSC pitch.
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