Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has been rooting for rank turners to exploit the home advantage, Tuesday had his views endorsed by his England counterpart Alastair Cook, who too called for result-oriented pitches.
“If the wicket is really flat it is hard to get results. What’s the point of preparing a wicket that will produce drab draws? India will have home advantage. But a turning wicket gives both sides an equal opportunity to win,” said Cook on the eve of Eden Gardens Test beginning Wednesday.
Dhoni has drawn flak for demanding turning tracks, arguing such wickets produced results and rule out the importance of toss. The pitch for the second Test in Mumbai was a turner and much to the dismay of the Indians, England spinners ruled the roost taking 19 wickets to inflict a crushing ten-wicket defeat on the hosts.
“Mumbai gave us a great chance of winning. Mumbai proved with a turning track that it gave both sides a chance to win,” Cook said. Calling the Eden wicket as good, Cook said the presence of dew would assist the pacers initially and would later take turn.
“It looks a good wicket. It won’t have the bounce like Mumbai. A game was played on it three weeks ago and it’s not a fresh wicket. So it would assist spinners,” said Cook. “It is an early start at 9’o clock. I was surprised to see the amount of dew in the ground and it might nip around a bit in the morning. But I don't think it will do too much,” said Cook, adding that the pitch may take turn from the third day onwards.
Dhoni too said the pitch would be helpful for the pacers at the start with the spinners getting purchase only in the latter stages of the game. "The wicket looks good. We will have to see how the pitch behaves. It depends a lot on the clay content. It won't help the spinner much initially, fast bowlers at this time of the year get some help initially. The role of fast bowlers will be very crucial in this game," he said.