Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni wanted a designer wicket for the second Test against at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium also. Curator YL Chandrasekhar and his men prepared a ‘perfect’ wicket to Dhoni which had spin and bounce. India raced away to victory in four days much to the delight of Dhoni.
Later speaking to media persons, Dhoni said it was a good wicket. “There was some bounce for the pacers with the new ball, and later, since it’s a sub-continental wicket, you have to bowl with the old ball later. Reverse swing will be crucial at that time. It was slightly different for the spinners in the sense they started getting turn when ball turned soft. In India generally you say bowl spinners with the new ball so that they get more turn but here it was slightly different. May be it took a little time realise that. But overall it was a good wicket,’’ he said.
Australian skipper Michael Clarke too was happy with the wicket, both here and at Chennai. “I think both wickets have been good Test cricket wickets. We just haven’t performed well enough, it’s as simple as that. We’ve had the best of conditions, won the toss and batted on both wickets. We knew before coming to India how important the first innings was going to be. There is more variable bounce, more spin and therefore it is harder to bat in the second innings.
“That doesn’t excuse today that’s for sure. We still should be doing than we did today and yesterday but our first innings has really let us down as a batting unit,’’ said a dejected Clarke.
For Chandra and his men, a job well done. “Dhoni himself congratulated all of us. He said these types of wickets should be prepared for good results,’’ he said
Chandra revealed that it was the similar type of wicket that was prepared against New Zealand in August last year. “We had ten days of preparation. Well aware of the need to prepare a good wicket, we started with heavy roller and then light one before a few days before the match. The wicket was hard and dry. This helped it to have bounce and spin,’’ he said. Chandra appreciated the role of Shivlal Yadav, MV Sridhar and SL Venkatapathy Raju who took a lot of interest in preparation of the wicket.
Ironically this was the third successive win for India after series of defeats here.
At the wits end and with theory of some ‘vastu’ problems, the Hyderabad Cricket Association installed a Ganesh idol in front of the main entrance.
Fortunes changed ever since, India beat England in the one-day match and tasted victories in the two Tests (against New Zealand in August last year and now this Test against Australia).