The standard of pitches and umpiring remains abysmal but Team India’s immediate concern is Wriddhiman Saha and how to compose the playing XI in Mumbai Test
We are the richest cricket board in the world and we get the biggest fee to broadcast the game live. We have the world’s largest cricket stadium and we have the most number of stadiums in the world. We have the world’s largest cricket audience and the largest talent pool of cricketers. We conduct the maximum number of games in a calendar year and employ the biggest workforce in world cricket.
Yet the standard of our pitches and umpiring remains the worst in the world.
The 22 yards is the most critical element in the cricketing world and no world-class infrastructure -- dressing room or spectator gallery -- can gloat over a sub-standard playing surface. Kanpur is yet another example where we have embarrassed ourselves; the sheer number of deliveries shooting through and keeping low from the onset cannot be wrapped under the guise of home advantage.
Team India must exploit the home advantage, and it can still be achieved by making pitches that make for pleasant viewing and quality cricket. Kane Williamson is a nice man, and New Zealand is a team that will not complain but it is for all of us as fans, and the BCCI to see what is happening in the middle. Mayank Aggarwal’s kneel down at unorthodox second slip to try and catch is a certificate of low-bounce and carry.
There are two more persons on two ends of that pitch, one crouching and another standing tall behind wickets, who have been in the spotlight for wrong reasons. Umpiring in the first Test has been very ordinary but most of us expected it — given what we routinely see in IPL and domestic games.
What is worth debating instead is Wriddhiman Saha. The Bengal stumper is arguably one of the safest options behind wickets but he needs to cash in on his chances, especially with Rishabh Pant getting clear preference. At 37, age is not his best friend either but 14 innings without a Test fifty and a highest score of 29 will mean the bench and the selectors will get restless. India seems to be getting excited about KS Bharat’s initiation and remain unaware of Upendra Yadav in the India A ranks but the skill and pool of wicketkeepers in the country is grim.
Saha’s performance in the last two years has certainly made Pant look illustrious and there remains the irony. A player who sometime back was a questionable successor to MS Dhoni now has no good alternative to him. While that seems to show Pant’s maturity and skills in glowing terms, it is also a poor reflection on the standards of wicketkeepers in our country.
Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, even Dinesh Karthik were all forced to shed their gloves to nourish their dreams of playing for India while on the other extreme India kept with KL Rahul for the sake of balance. The legend of Dhoni was perhaps one of the reasons why the contemporaries or the upcoming crop struggled to compete but just like other departments, India needs a Test specialist wicketkeeper or a ready alternative to Pant.
There are plenty of options in the pace and spin bowling department, while the next biggest question remains on what happens to Shreyas Iyer after Kanpur century? Virat Kohli comes back as skipper and a batsman has to vacate his place. Who will it be? A newcomer who is in form or an established name low on confidence. Or will Virat shuffle the batting order to accommodate all?
Interesting times ahead, surely in Wankhede. And hopefully, we will see a better pitch, improved umpiring and a roaring comeback from Saha.