Not making any demands for pitch, says Team India coach Anil Kumble
Ahead of the first test against New Zealand at Kanpur, Indian coach Anil Kumble has confirmed that the team management has not demanded the Green Park Oval curator to prepare a turner to assist his players and also sounded confident about the men in blue doing well on all surfaces.
When South Africa toured India last year, there were a lot of talks over the wickets that were prepared to assist the Indian spinners. There was also an ugly spat between Ravi Shastri, who was India’s manager at that time and the Mumbai curator Sudhir Naik for preparing a flat deck for the fifth ODI between the two teams in which South Africa went to score over 400.
With a lot of talks going on over the wicket that will be prepared for the three-match test series against New Zealand, Kumble’s comments on the pitch for the first test has cleared the air and put an end to the pitch debate ahead of the first test.
While talking to the media ahead of the first test, Kumble said, nobody is demanding anything. 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.
Kumble also said that Virat Kohli and co. are ready to play on whatever track that is given to them and added that the wicket for the first test will be a typical Kanpur wicket. He also insisted by saying the talks should be about cricket that is played on the pitch and not the pitch.
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, Kumble said when asked about how the wicket will be for the first test,
India will play New Zealand in a three-match test series and the first match, which is also India’s 500th Test will start tomorrow at the Green Park Oval. India will be without the services of their pace spearhead Ishant Sharma as he is ruled out of the test due to chikungunya.