IND vs ENG: ‘It was a bad pitch, period,’ says Motera ground's veteran curator

India players celebrate as England’s Jonny Bairstow is clean bowled by Axar Patel at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, last week. Pic/BCCI

The pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium, where the third India v England pink ball Test concluded inside two days, has been termed "bad" by the Motera ground's longest-serving curator Dhiraj Parsana.

Ex-Test spinner Parsana, who served as curator at Motera for 36 years from 1982 to 2018 and was also BCCI's West Zone curator from 1997 to 2018, was blunt in his pitch assessment. "It was a bad pitch. Period," Parsana told mid-day during a chat on Monday.

"On an ideal Test pitch, the match should last between three to five days. If I were the curator here, I would have provided home advantage to the home team, but I would have also ensured the match lasted at least three to four days. It was not a dangerous pitch, but yes, the odd ball turned viciously and sometimes there was a bit of a jump in the bounce. So, it cannot be reported as a dangerous pitch because it didn't have any awkward bounce that could have injured a player," noted Parsana, who played two Tests in 1979 and represented Gujarat, Saurashtra and Railways in 93 first-class matches.

Parsana not invited

The Motera pitch is Parsana's baby as he was instrumental in curating it when the first Test match was played here in 1983 between India and West Indies. He watched the last Test on television as there was no invitation from the Gujarat Cricket Association. "I don't know whether I would have gone in these COVID-19 times, but I would have loved to be invited as a former cricketer and curator. Had it been Mumbai, I am sure every former cricketer would be invited by the state association. Here, they seem to forget us," remarked the 73-year-old former player, who played for Mafatlal Sports Club in Mumbai during the 1970s and 1980s.

Dhiraj Parsana

The Test was the shortest on Indian soil with only 842 balls being bowled. Out of the 30 wickets that fell in the third Test, 28 went to spinners and for most of those dismissals the ball went straight or skid through. "That could be due to the shine of the pink ball. The pitch too had some shine. So, the moment the ball lands on the shiny part, it would skid. For example, on glossy floor tiles, the ball will always skid. Had there been dew, the movement would have been restricted," said Parsana.
"I was surprised by Sunil Gavaskar's comments [on commentary]. He praised this pitch, which means the commentators, media have accepted that it's okay to have a Test match lasting just two days. In earlier times, this wouldn't have been accepted. But since the last few years, the trend has changed and it is accepted worldwide that Test matches can end in two or three days," he added.

WTC qualification at stake

The third Test was crucial for both India and England as far as their World Test Championships (WTC) qualification was concerned. However, India's win put England out of contention to make it to the final. Now, all India have to do is draw the fourth Test here to play the summit clash against New Zealand at Lord's later this year.
Parsana believed curators will come under tremendous pressure to exploit home advantage now that the Test matches are played to earn points to qualify for the WTC title. "There is no denying that every team take home advantage. The pressure on curators will increase because there is a title to be won. We have provided home advantage to our Indian team, but we ensured that the contest was fair even if the demand was for a rank turner. It is always going to spin in India and be pacy abroad. But how the curator works around these factors is their art," he concluded.