Mumbai blew away the chance to capitalise on 'home' conditions by being bundled out for 228 which gave Gujarat full honours on Day One at the Holkar Stadium yesterday
Samunder Singh Chauhan
MPCA curator Samunder Singh Chauhan
Indore: Mumbai blew away the chance to capitalise on 'home' conditions by being bundled out for 228 which gave Gujarat full honours on Day One at the Holkar Stadium yesterday. Mumbai, who traditionally play their cricket on red soil pitches, had the same strip on offer here.
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It was Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association's (MPCA) decision to lay two pitches with red soil at the Holkar Stadium. These wickets are the same that are used at the Wankhede and Brabourne Stadiums in Mumbai. Now, the Holkar's centre plot has a total of nine wickets, which include seven consisting of black soil and two with red soil.
All the pitches are looked after by curator Samundar Singh Chauhan.
"Sanjay Jagdale (MPCA pillar) sir was very keen to have red soil wickets at our venue because such pitches in Mumbai helped to generate good bounce and turn too. I spoke to the Wankhede Stadium curator Ramesh Mhamunkar and Brabourne Stadium curator Prakash Adhav in this regard.
"They both helped us to transport Mumbai's red soil here. This is the first time a Ranji Trophy match is being played on red soil," Chauhan told mid-day yesterday.
Gujarat too had a chance to play on pitches consisting of red soil from their stadiums, but due to the state's policy which prevents soil from being sold to other states, Parthiv Patel & Co had no option but to play on the 'Mumbai pitch'. Gujarat, ironically, dominated proceedings, taking full advantage of the sporting wicket yesterday.
"We tried to get red soil from Navsari and Valsad, but we didn't get the permission because of Gujarat government's policy which prevented us from bringing the soil here, so we had to go to Mumbai for red soil," Chauhan added.
Nevertheless, the pitch is just one day old.
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