On the Indore pitch | Desperation can be inspiring — but it can be embarrassing, too
The HinduWhen a team loses, it is a cliché to say the players didn’t want to win desperately enough. Skipper Rohit Sharma said at the end of the Indore Test which they lost on a turner that these were the kind of wickets India would like to play on at home. Unfair to the pacers If India insist they are playing to their strengths in the current series by initially preparing slow wickets and then the sharp turner in Indore, they are insulting some fine fast bowlers they have produced since that England series long ago. The Board of Control for Cricket in India, tired of the team losing to pace abroad finally gave instructions to leave grass on the pitches for domestic tournaments to encourage fast bowling. India have put in a lot of effort and money to unearth fast bowlers, bowlers who would have struggled to make it in the days when the belief was that only spin could win, and wickets were prepared accordingly.