Curious case of Palam pitch

Most of the local officials managing the affairs of hosts’ Services team seemed to be focussed only on what Sachin Tendulkar was doing on the field. All eyes were on the Little Master, following his every move as if the rest of the Mumbai team hardly existed.

And, when Tendulkar on Tuesday cut short his net session after facing a few deliveries from team-mate Vishal Dabholkar and opted to go for a long knocking outing instead, there was a lot of debate over the nature of the pitch prepared for the Ranji Trophy semifinal starting today.

Tendulkar had asked the BCCI to shift the semifinal venue from Palam to Mumbai last week, but his request was turned down. The Services allocated two practice turfs for the visitors. Tendulkar was the first to pad up. Tendulkar negotiated Dabholkar’s first three deliveries  with ease but when the next delivery kept low and hit his toe, there was a big smile on his face.

Tendulkar immediately walked up and down the pitch before pointing towards the team’s trainer Amogh Pandit to arrange for a knocking session. The organisers were alerted as young Dabholkar confirmed that it was the uneven nature of the practice wicket that forced the switch.

Skipper Ajit Agarkar, meanwhile, kept practising on the two pitches with the rest of the team.

Mumbai are hot favourites for the tie. But Agarkar is not ready to rest on past laurels and vowed to take Services seriously over the next few days. The likes of Wasim Jaffer and Abhishek Nayar have left the opposite side mesmerised with their records so far.

“I don’t want to look arrogant by taking Services lightly. This is a semifinal game and you know how difficult it is for any team to reach this far,” Agarkar said.

Services, on the other hand, know that they need an extraordinary effort from all their players to make any impact against the star-studded Mumbai. But playing at home is something that would give them a chance to exploit the chilly conditions. Also, a hard-fought five-wicket victory over Uttar Pradesh in the quarters is still a big motivating factor for the budding players.

“Mumbai have all these stars. But we are not overawed by their presence,” stand-in Services skipper Soumya Ranjan Swain said.

Services manager Wing Commander Deepak Bhasker said, “We have followed the BCCI diktat of preparing a sporting pitch. It is a five-day game and expect an outright result.”