Mumbai: Oct 28, 2012
After a week later, the Board of Control for Cricket in India had instructed the chief curator to prepare pacer friendly pitches, it seems England will have to play their first two warm- up matches on green tops.
DY Patil stadium, which will host the second warm-up game, will also sport a green top according to the Indian Express. Abey Kuruvilla, cricket-in-charge, said, “It will be a good cricketing wicket which will have grass and bounce on it. The pitch will certainly help pacers more but any batsman who manages to stick around can score runs.”
Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Cheteshwar Pujara has been added in both the India A and Mumbai A side. All these batsmen will aim to perform well, so that they can earn a spot in the Test side.
A BCCI official on Saturday said, “They want to test the batsmen and it is a good practice session for many players. England has a quality pace attack and we want to exploit it. That is why Pujara and Dhawan were added in the Mumbai A squad so that when they face them they should have a slight idea about how they bowl.”
“It will be a big confidence boost for any batsmen if he scores a century against this England side. It will be a big stage for those who want to force their way into the Indian side or make a comeback. It’s an ideal platform to show your talent,” India A coach, Lalchand Rajput said.
On the other hand, England will play Board President’XI at Ahmedabad, Motera B ground.
“It will be a big confidence boost for any batsmen if he scores a century against this England side. It will be a big stage for those who want to force their way into the Indian side or make a comeback. It’s an ideal platform to show your talent,” Gujarat Cricket Association secretary Rajesh Patel said.
