Green Park pitch set to offer something for everyone

Lucknow: The 22-yard strip at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur has the reputation of being slow, low and batter-friendly with 13 of the 23 Tests here ending in a draw. Over the years though, the pitch has started to offer pace and bounce along with spin, as evidenced in the thrilling draw that India and New Zealand played here in 2021.

On the face of it, the track for the second Test between India and Bangladesh, starting Friday, is expected to offer something to everyone. If pacers have a chance to trouble batters on the first two days, spinners may dictate terms on the remaining three days.

Unlike the red soil pitch in Chennai where India defeated Bangladesh by 280 runs, the black soil pitch here will demand the players to adjust.

“People still think Kanpur’s wicket spinners friendly as it witnessed Jasu Patel’s 14-wicket haul in India’s first win over Australia in Test cricket in 1959, but that’s not the reality anymore,” said UP Cricket Association’s chief curator Shiv Kumar.

“It’s altogether a different situation and now with every passing day, conditions are improving,” he added.

“A Test match always tests patience as well as skills of both batters and bowlers and being a curator my focus remains on quality pitches as per the guidelines of the ICC and BCCI so that everyone could enjoy the moments of the game.”

All nine black clay pitches along with the ground have been given a facelift for the Test which includes pre-season density building compaction of the wicket table, weed control as well as the top dressing of the pitches.

“Before the last two Tests, I prepared a wicket for a Ranji Trophy match adjacent to the centre strip and it produced amazing results. The ball was zooming past the batters with good bounce,” said Kumar.

“The Bermuda grass did the trick and helped bowlers produce good results. It also allowed the batters to play their shots with perfection as the ball was coming on to the bat at a good height,” he added.

At Green Park Stadium, India have participated in 38 international cricket matches across all formats, winning 17, losing 18 and drawing 13. The highest score ever recorded at this stadium was 676/7 by India vs Sri Lanka in Tests.