Mahendra Singh Dhoni came down heavily on the pitch that produced two double hundreds, three centuries, several half centuries and over 1400 runs. There was not a single five-wicket haul. The Indian skipper was not too amused.
“On this kind of a wicket, 99.99% of the time you will not get a result. People talk about sporting wickets. For me, a sporting wicket doesn’t mean the one that seams around. It has to have bounce,” Dhoni told the media after the second Test at the SSC here on Friday.
Dhoni was surprised to find a belter of a wicket as the sub-continental pitches are known to offer turn. “The sub-continent is known for turning tracks. Apart from the first day, the wicket starts turning and the spinners get help and the fast bowlers get a bit of reverse swing going. But this was a placid track. There was nothing in it for anyone,” he said.
“In the second innings when there was a bit of wear and tear, there was something for the spinners and they exploited it. I will prefer a turning track,” he added. Dhoni said he would not have objected if a draw was agreed by the end of the fourth day itself.
“We would love to get an extra day’s rest. It might be one of the options,” he observed.
The Indian skipper said it was not easy for him to place the fielders because of the batting-friendly wicket. “On a wicket like this, you have to be really practical. If you have too many attacking fielders, like we had, one or two slips and a gully throughout the two Test matches, nothing really goes to them. That’s a really tough option because if you don’t keep them and there is one edge that goes through, it hurts. But I feel that if you have a wicket that has nothing for the bowlers, it’s always better to have semi-defensive field.”
Sangakkara not thinking of ranking
Kumar Sangakkara hoped the next match would be more interesting but insisted his team would not think about the No.1 ranking which would go the hosts’ way if they win the series 2-0. “There is a bit of a way to go before that. We have to concentrate on playing well. A half chance on a track like this is tough and we have to grab such chances,” he said.
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