Ponting fumes over Kotla practice pitch
Still grappling to get the team combination right following a spate of injuries, the last thing Australia needed ahead of Saturday’s third one-dayer against India here was lack of preparedness.
Ricky Ponting minced no words when he made his displeasure clear after finding the practice pitches at the Kotla wet and unplayable. The state of the pitches, Ponting claimed, not only affected their preparations but also delayed their training. “When we turned out for practice this morning, for some reason the practice wickets had been watered, so we haven’t had a chance to train today properly. That’s a bit disappointing,” said Ponting during his media briefing.
The explanation by the groundsmen that they weren’t aware of Australia’s 9.00 am practice didn’t amuse Ponting. “I am very disappointed,” he countered. “It seems everybody in the world except the groundsmen here knew we would be training from 9.00 am. To turn up and find that the wickets are completely unusable is disappointing. You have just one training day and I am sure that by the time the Indians come this afternoon, the wicket will be fine. It was a bit of disadvantage for us.”
Delhi and District Cricket Association curator Vijay Abrader Mishap explained that he did not expect the Australian team to train early.
“We were told that both teams would come at 2.00 p.m. and train together,” Mishap said. Obviously, there was lack of communication between the DDCA and the Australian team but considering the fact that there are only four practice pitches at the DDCA facilities, it was a bit strange that they expected both teams to practice together.
