BCCI Official Claims: No One Spoke To The Pitch Curator Before The Test Against England

A senior BCCI official on Monday rubbished indications that the curator in charge of the pitch against England in Chennai last year had acted “deliberately” against the interests of the Indian team.

It is reported that Tapas Chatterjee, the curator in charge of the pitch of the first Test of that series, was asked by the then team management (read the coaching staff) not to water the pitch and not to apply ‘rolling’. Some claims suggested that Chatterjee was told to not add water and not roll the pitch.

According to the Times of India report, the team management had forbidden water and the use of rollers on the pitch of the first Test the day before, but after the departure of head coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharat Arun, the curator told the groundsman That he was asked by a ‘higher official’ to water the pitch and roll it.

It was speculated that Chatterjee was told not to pour water and not to roll the pitch so that the Chennai heat breaks it and the ball starts getting a lot of turn from day one. Chatterjee reportedly did not heed the suggestion and it turned out to be a flat pitch where England captain Joe Root scored runs against the Indian bowlers and England easily won the Test match.

Chatterjee actually did not work on the pitch of the second Test where India won the match and levelled the series. However, the BCCI is in no mood to investigate the matter and the senior official rubbished the allegations. According to BCCI sources, there were no plans to investigate the match lost by India. India won the next three Tests and won the series 3–1.

“If anyone from the then team management tried to force a change in the pitch used for the World Test Championship match, then it should be probed,” said a senior official with knowledge of the matter.

Chennai’s pitch proved to be helpful for batting in the opening three days and England got the advantage. Batting first, winning the toss, England scored 578 runs in the first innings with the help of Joe Root’s double century. In reply, the Indian team was all out for 337 runs in the first innings.

After this, England could only score 178 runs in the second innings but set a target of 420 runs at the base of the first innings lead. In front of the huge target, the Indian team was bundled out for 192 runs and England won the match by 227 runs.

Despite the loss in the first match, India showed great performance in the other three matches of the series and won the series 3-1.