Published: Dec 03, 2016, 05:11 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 03, 2016, 05:11 PM (IST)
New Delhi: Having made it clear that it would be “unwise” to comment on Lodha Committee recommendation as the Supreme Court verdict is still pending, Sachin Tendulkar came out in support of BCCI stating that the parent body has “done a lot for the game in the country”. Tendulkar was speaking during a session at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, here. “My personal feeling is that when I was growing up, I got a lot of support from the BCCI. The BCCI and the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) arranged a lot of camps,” he said. Tendulkar said that how his suggestion of having all 14 squad members in a team play in school cricket last year meant that 1800 more children got to play competitive cricket.
“I gave a suggestion to MCA on school cricket and they implemented. BCCI has supported and taken care of the players and given us ample opportunity to grow. But it doesn’t stop at this. Not everything is perfect but things can improve,” said Tendulkar as BCCI president Anurag Thakur was among the audiences.
Tendulkar also suggested that every single game must have two pitches. “I have thought a lot about neutral venues in Ranji Trophy [which is being experimented this season]. I have a suggestion which can be radical. When we go to places like Australia, New Zealand, West Indies and South Africa, we play with kookaburra balls which swings early. Think about a young Ranji batsman playing with SG Test in India and then facing difficulty overseas,” Tendulkar spoke at Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. “Let us have the first innings on a green top with kookaburra balls which would give openers a challenge. Even bowlers will have something. Our spinners will also learn how to bowl with kookaburra on Green tops,” Tendulkar explained. READ: Tendulkar suggests having 2 different pitches for every Ranji Trophy match
His next suggestion was even more interesting. “Now let there be a pitch adjacent to the green top which would be a rank Turner. Now the second innings will be played on that track with the SG Test ball which would also help our batsmen play against quality spin bowling. We have been too focussed on playing pace in overseas conditions but we should not forget how to play spin bowling.
“Don’t forget even overseas teams are losing to us in India. May be they would start using SG in their domestic matches.” For Tendulkar, two pitches, two balls in two innings of a match takes Curator preparing designer pitches out of the equation and also nullifies the toss factor. READ: Sachin Tendulkar urges MNCs to recruit sportsperson
“A captain would start thinking that winning the toss will give him only 10 percent advantage that is his right to choose first. But if he chooses to bowl on green top he should remember that he would need to bat on a Turner in the fourth innings,” he said making it clear that it may or may not click
