Litmus test for Kotla wicket

‘Pitch corrector’ Venkat Sundaram is confident that the toil at the Feroz Shah Kotla will pay off, the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) cricket committee chairman MAK Pataudi is satisfied with the progress, while the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) chief pitch consultant Andy Atkinson feels the strip will behave well in
the coming days.

However, the litmus test will still be when Delhi Daredevils take on
Mumbai Indians in their IPL encounter here on Wednesday, three months after the pitch was deemed to be unfit and had to be banned from holding international matches for one year.

A number of players from either team, quite a few of them fancy stroke-makers, figured in that match between India and Sri Lanka, and they would probably be a little skeptical irrespective of the positive opinions. The sight of wincing batsmen and hostile bowling at a venue that has been considered largely docile over the years, was a shocker for just about everyone.

Though a practice match among Delhi Daredevils players last week saw one innings yield 210 runs on the pitch that is (adjacent to the notorious one) set to be used for the T20 match, an encounter played with vehemence might prove to be different.
The Mumbai skipper Sachin Tendulkar though did not seem bothered about the pitch.

“It looks like a good batting pitch. It is a typical Kotla track and I don’t think there is too much to worry for a batsman,” said Tendulkar, who led his team to a win over Rajasthan Royals in their first outing and will now also have the services of West Indian sensation Kieron Pollard.

“We have a decent batting line up with a fair bit of youth and experience. We are confident and it has been good to see some new players do their bit,” he said in reference to Ambati Rayudu, Rajagopal Sathish and Ali Murtaza.

Delhi, with two wins under their belt, boast of flamboyant batsmen like Virender Sehwag, Tillakaratne Dilshan and captain Gautam Gambhir in the upper order, but it was their prime pace bowler Dirk Nannes who looked happy after a look at the pitch.

“One can expect some runs from batsmen on this pitch, but it is also hard and there is bound to be some bounce too,” said the left-armer from Australia who will have to shoulder a major burden in the absence of injured Ashish Nehra. “I guess there will be a little bit for everyone here.”

The seven T20 matches here will give an indication of how much better the pitch turns out for next season, when it is due to host four matches of the World Cup. But as of now, the pitch has to prove conducive for good stroke-play.