No say on pitches for teams or players

KOLKATA: Mahendra Singh Dhoni has had his way regarding the nature of tracks prepared during India's recent home series against Australia, but the Chennai Super Kings captain won't have his wish fulfilled in IPL-6, which kicks off

next week.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has issued strict guidelines whereby it has stated that no IPL franchise will have a say regarding preparation of wickets in the world's richest cricket meet to be played over one-and-a-half months.

In a meeting with the five zonal members of the pitches and grounds committee earlier this month, the apex body laid down clear-cut guidelines to be followed by curators of all IPL venues. The curators were then invited to a one-day workshop in Mumbai on March 17 to apprise them of the Board's

directives.

The idea behind issuing these guidelines is to bring about uniformity in the nature of pitches all over the country while retaining their specific characters.

The BCCI directive clearly states that the pitch and ground preparation of all IPL matches will be the sole responsibility of the chief curator of the hosting association and it will be he who will select the practice and match pitches. Neither the franchise nor any player will have any say on this matter.

Daljit Singh, chairman of the Board's pitches and grounds committee, will be available to offer advice, if required. He will also have the authority to intervene in any case there are some issues about pitches at any centre.

The Board is keen to ensure good contests throughout the tournament which will attract more spectators. "The organizers are keen to see close contests and narrow victory margins in most of the games, barring may be a few games in which players like Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine or Virender Sehwag can single-handedly destroy any opposition," a source said.

And to achieve that, the Board wants every curator to keep in mind a few important points while preparing the track. For one, the character of pitches should stay the same for both the innings of a match. Also, pitches should have good pace and carry along with consistent bounce.

The best venue will be rewarded with Rs 25 lakh by the IPL organizing committee at the end of the tournament. Mohali has won this award thrice, while Jaipur and Chennai have been rewarded once each so far.

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Shweta Pandey

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