Bengaluru, November 12: "To hell with pitches." Ravi Shastri thundered those words after India blanked South Africa in the home series last month. With India to take on Bangladesh in the first Test at the Holkar Stadium, Indore, from Thursday (November 14) , the nature of the 22-yard strip has under focus yet again.
If the MPCA authorities are to be believed, the pitch on offer for India vs Bangladesh first Test will be one of sporting nature.
"We are preparing a pitch that will last all five days, and offer good, hard Test cricket. We are looking to prepare pitch on which pacers, spinners and batsmen get equal importance. Indian fast bowlers are doing well everywhere and we have seen that in the series against Windies and South Africa, so we don't have to worry about preparing any particular kind of pitch," a source told MyKhel.
MPCA curator Samandar Singh Chauhan agreed. "We are here to ensure that the teams will get a proper Test match wicket that lasts for five days. Put in a good effort, you are sure to get a reward in equal measure here. It is going to be a sporting wicket," he said.
Indian pacers had taken 26 wickets, close to spinners' tally of 32 in the series against South Africa. It might have prompted the curator to opt for a sporting wicket and the officials also said the association has not received any direction from Team India as far as pitch is concerned.
"No. We haven't received any calls like that. We have experienced staff who knows a lot about pitch preparation. And we feel that this Indian side can do well on any tracks as evidenced by the last two series against the West Indies and South Africa," the source added.
The officials said the ground staff has kept the ground covered as the weather remained on the gloomy side in the city for the last few days.