India vs Australia, 1st Test: Spotlight on role of three curators over nature of Pune track

New Delhi: With 24 wickets falling in two days, the rank turner on offer at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Gahunje has led to questions being raised about the three curators in charge of preparing the pitch— the local curator and former Maharashtra pacer Pandurang Salgaoncar, BCCI’s chief curator Daljit Singh and head West zone curators Dhiraj Parsana. Two days before the Test started, Salgaoncar had announced that “ball will fly”, a theory that was rubbished by rival captain Steve Smith, who said that “ball will turn from Day 1”. [caption id=“attachment_3301490” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] India’s Virat Kohli during a nets session at Pune’s MCA Stadium on Wednesday. AFP[/caption] Salgaoncar’s comment were in complete contrast to what was on offer for the first two days which has given rise to speculation whether the local curator got a free hand or if there was intervention from Daljit on the Indian team’s insistence. “Pandurang Salgaoncar is known to provide flattest of decks in Pune. If you look at Kedar Jadhav’s massive scores in Ranji Trophy, you would know. Only a month back, India and England scored 350 plus during ODIs. How come the character of the pitch changed diabolically?” questioned a former India player, who has played a lot in Pune. The pitch wasn’t watered during last few days and the scorching heat added to cracks that are slowly opening up. A senior BCCI official questioned Daljit’s role. “Did Daljit get any specific instructions from the Indian team management to prepare a certain kind of track? Or it was him who instructed Salgaoncar that the pitch should be allowed to remain dry?,” a senior BCCI official wondered. “I don’t think the Indian team would have wanted a pitch that would have boomeranged this bad. But Daljit has always had this fascination to leave some grass on track,” the senior official, who has known Daljit for over a decade, added. The other question that is now being asked is how come Daljit is being allowed to continue as he is nearly 80 years of age whereas strict guidelines have been put in place for BCCI administrators, selectors as well as employees. “There is Tapash Chatterjee of Rajasthan, Ashish Bhowmick of Tripura and Ankit Datta of Delhi — the younger lot of curators. Why aren’t these youngsters being given more responsibility?” the official questioned. “Daljit is already 79 years old. If you can’t have national selectors above 60 years, if your administrators have to quit at 70 and employees are made to retire at 60, how come Daljit is still continuing. And if one feels that he doesn’t have a replacement, then one should question the innumerable workshop of curators that we have had over the years,” he concluded.