By IANS,
Mumbai : India’s cricket coach Gary Kirsten came out in support of the controversial Kanpur pitch that drew the ire of International Cricket Council, which has demanded a report from the Indian board on the quality of the track.
Kirsten said there is nothing wrong in making pitches to suit the strength of the home team as every other country follows the same rule.
“India won the Test at Kanpur and I have no issues with the pitch. I leave it to the BCCI. There are different (pitch) conditions in different countries and that’s why succeeding away from home is a big challenge,” Kirsten said.
“I am happy that groundsmen and curators around the world are not overdoing it. In all these years only one pitch was considered dangerous (the pitch at Jamaica’s Sabina Park in Kingston in the 1998 series between West Indies and England),” Kirsten said.
Kirsten received a cash prize of $75,000 and a shield from ICC CEO Malcolm Speed on behalf of the Indian team for finishing second in the ICC Test rankings behind Australia.
ICC has shot off a letter to the BCCI, seeking an explanation on the Kanpur pitch, which was criticised by South Africa as under-prepared and not suited for Test cricket.
Match referee Roshan Mahanama was also not impressed with the pitch after the Test ended inside three days with the hosts cantering to an eight-wicket win.
On Mahanama’s report, ICC sent a letter to the BCCI, seeking an explanation.
“A letter has been sent to the BCCI. The match referee initiated the process and ICC sent a letter to the BCCI after getting his report. We are awaiting a reply,” ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said.
BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty downplayed the complaint.
“It’s a normal process where the match referee submits a pitch report to the ICC at the end of the match, a copy of which is also given to the board”, he said.
“This is not the first time that a match ended in three days. Definitely there were suggestions for some corrective measures, but I don’t think it was a notice to the BCCI,” Shetty said.