NAGPUR: The talk about the Jamtha strip only grew louder on the eve of the match even as both skippers tried to play it down. A few former Australian cricketers and experts have termed the surface as 'doctored' and requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to step in.
Despite them firmly believing that they have reasons to make such claims, all talks related to the surface may evaporate into thin air once the opening match of the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy gets underway in the Orange City on Thursday. At least the number of tickets sold suggests so.
The Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Cricket Stadium in Jamtha has a capacity of 45,000 and almost 40,000 tickets for all the days have already been sold by the eve of the match.
"It's expected to be almost full as 40,000 tickets have been sold so far," Farokh Dastoor, the VCA chief executive officer, told this daily. "I have never seen such a craze for Test matches in my 22-year stint as a cricket administrator," Dastoor added.
India captain Rohit Sharma, who was born in the city, held it important for the future of the longest format of the game. "It's very good to hear that people are coming in large numbers to watch the game. It's good for Test cricket. I hope they continue to come at all the venues not only in Nagpur because a riveting series is on cards and people love to witness a good contest," Rohit told reporters.
What led to talks?
It all began with a section of visiting journalists claiming only the centre of the wicket and the length areas outside the left-hander's leg stump on both sides were watered on Tuesday. It was alleged that the preparations were being made to suit the hosts and trouble Australia as the visitors could line up with as many as six left-hand batters in their top eight.
The pictures of the work had gone viral with those flaying it terming the action as 'doctoring the pitch'. Given the noise surrounding the strip, it was quite obvious the captains were asked for their reactions on the subject but both of them preferred to focus on the game instead of thinking much about the wicket.
"I just feel we should focus on cricket which is going to be played for the next five days and not worry too much about the pitch. All 22 cricketers who are going to play are quality cricketers, so not to worry too much about what the pitch is going to be like and how much it is going to be turning or seaming. We should just come out, play good cricket and win the game, as simple as that," affirmed Rohit.
His counterpart, Pat Cummins, admitted that the pitch looked designed for the home team but said, "That’s part of the challenge of playing away." Elaborating further, the pacer said, "It looks a little dry for the left-handers. With so much traffic coming from the right-handers, yeah potentially might be rough there but we got to embrace that. It gets challenging at times. But our batters relish the chance to solve the problem and quite a few will get that chance this week."
The Aussie captain also explained how important the first innings total is in India. "First innings total is more important here than anywhere else in the world. First innings lead hopefully. You just have to put a good total on the board thinking it's going to spin hard in the second innings," he said.
No doubt, their intentions are good when they say the focus should be on cricket and the challenges which lie ahead. However, even their focus will inadvertently shift to the 22 yards once they come out to bat on the Jamtha track.