Pitch black

So what do we make of this? Everyone reckoned that batsmen would rather burn in hell than play at Sabina Park. Michael Holding, who terrorised India on this very ground in 1976, turned a shade of green looking at the square. Why, he moaned, didn’t anyone leave so much grass on the pitch during his playing days? Sourav Ganguly won what all Indians thought was the toss of his life and handed the ball to his pacemen. The West Indian openers knocked off 88 runs before lunch; West Indies didn’t lose a wicket till the 35th over, were 246 for 1 an hour after tea and ended up with 422.

There could be three different explanations for this. One, the West Indian batsmen were just too good. Two, the Indian bowling was crap. Three, everybody misread the pitch. Or perhaps, it was a bit of all three.

Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds are a pair you are unlikely to choose to bat for your life: both like to give the ball a good thump and both play, by nature, away from their body. But they batted like never before: responsibly, doggedly, watchfully. Eleven runs came off the first 10 overs, and it was not until the 12th over that a boundary was hit intentionally.

The Indian bowling was exactly the opposite. It lacked discipline and focus. Javagal Srinath looked like an out-of-breath marathon runner; Ashish Nehra got movement but was off-target, and Zaheer Khan, who will perhaps never be the fast bowler India had hoped he’d be, simply banged it down more in hope than with purpose. India were nearing the end of a long tour and it took a helpful pitch to put the series into perspective: the West Indian batting had rediscovered itself, but with due respect to Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, they were generously aided by the Indian bowlers. It is now painfully clear that India’s pace bowlers need more than suitable conditions to take their wickets, they need obliging batsmen. In all fairness, it must be said that the West Indian batsmen lost the Trinidad Test more than the Indian bowlers won it, and the West Indians haven’t looked like repeating their mistakes again .

Srinath is a more intelligent bowler now than he has ever been, but he has lost a few yards in pace and also his ability to bring the ball back sharply into the right-hander. It is difficult to see him winning matches for India on his own. Nehra has looked the best of the lot, but he would, at best, be a third seamer in a decent pace attack. He lacks the pace and the zip to be seriously threatening.

Now, to the pitch. Holding surely would have most people out on this one, but even the Indian batsmen would admit it’s been much less frightening than they dreaded. It has offered good carry to the bowlers, but hardly any lateral movement. Only two batsmen have been caught at slip, both off attempted – or non-attempted in Hooper’s case – hooks. Only two wickets have fallen so far to bounce or movement, and one of them was Pedro Collins, the West Indian No. 9, who got out hooking. Wasim Jaffer got a beauty from Merv Dillon: the ball pitched on a good length, rose and held its line off the seam. Hooper, the other batsman who got out to a bouncer, was done in more by lack of pace than fire.

You can’t blame Ganguly for making the decision that he did – his batsmen were bowled out for 102 at Barbados, on a pitch that looked far better than this one – but the point is, there is increasing evidence that cricket pitches are far more deceptive than they are given credit for and the mandatory pitch report is often a ceremonial exercise for the benefit of the television viewer than a serious study of the behaviour of the pitch.

England captain Nasser Hussain didn’t know how to express his gratitude to his hosts at the sight of the green top at Mohali last year, yet, put in to bat, his team were destroyed on the first day by Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble who took 15 wickets between them in the Test. Next Test, England were written off straight off, because the deliciously brown surface at the Motera stadium in Ahmedabad was supposed to crumble into a heap of dust in two-and-a-half days. The pitch stood firm for five days and England took the honours with India having to bat out the last day to save the Test.

It was obvious that both Hooper and Ganguly had misread the Antigua pitch. Hooper played four pace bowlers and inserted India on a track that held very little for fast bowling. It was not until Sachin Tendulkar started turning the ball on the third day, that people realised that spinners could have made a difference. But Anil Kumble could only bowl 14 overs with a broken jaw and India’s other spinner, Harbhajan Singh, was pushing the drinks trolley.

Ian Chappell, who is nobody’s fool, realised the futility of the pitch report years ago. But instead of saying no to his producer, he went and did such a bad job that nobody has asked him to do another since.

Sambit Bal is editor of Wisden.com India and Wisden Asia Cricket magazine. Exclusive from Wisden.com/Indian View Watch Current action from West Indies NOW!