Stadium pitch full of runs, says curator

Come october 8, the local cricket fans will be in for a major run feast. As the Twenty-20 World Champions India...

Come october 8, the local cricket fans will be in for a major run feast. As the Twenty-20 World Champions India take on the 50-50 World Champions Australia in the fourth ODI, the pitch at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium promises to be full of runs.

According to Harish Sharma, coach-cum-curator at the Stadium, “The pitch is regularly watered and rolled. The pitch will have bounce and pace but it an out-and-out ODI pitch, full of runs.” But Sharma also cautioned that with the early morning dew, the seamers can get some help as well initially.

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Daljit Singh, chairman of the BCCI Pitch Committee, who has been supervising the Stadium pitch, said, “The conditions at the Stadium are quite similar to the PCA Stadium (Mohali), so the pitch will behave more or less like the PCA rectangle. The spinners will not get much help from the wicket but batsmen would enjoy playing here.”

It may be recalled that two years ago 10 pitches were relaid at the ground while, the number of practice pitches was increased to nine. More than the Indians it will be the Australians who will feel at home. They had set their practice base at the Stadium during last year’s Champions Trophy. Most of the players had at that time expressed their happiness at the facilities and the pitches made available to them.