India’s top three of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli continued their batting onslaught as they chased down West Indies’ record 405/7 in under 44 overs, with eight wickets in hand, to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series on Wednesday.
Five hundreds, including a double century, more than 800 runs and a slew of batting records broken in the India-West Indies second ODI fuelled criticism of the nature of surfaces in the country, but India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak felt there was “no perfect pitch” in cricket.
Five hundreds, including a double century, more than 800 runs and a slew of batting records broken in the India-West Indies second ODI fuelled criticism of the nature of surfaces in the country, but India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak felt there was “no perfect pitch” in cricket.
Defending the wicket, Kotak credited Rohit and Gill for making the daunting chase look easy. There will always be criticism. With these matches seen as India’s dress rehearsal for the World Cup in just one year’s time, when asked if this could be a recipe for disaster by preparing such flat tracks, Kotak acknowledged that conditions in South Africa could be different. “I felt the last game (in Thiruvananthapuram), it was slightly holding, turning. This was probably a flatter wicket. But we wish that it is equally balanced. But the outfield is quick. So you do feel for the bowlers.
Because there was not a lot for the bowlers, “Definitely you feel for the bowlers. Gill smashed a double century, while Rohit struck his 35th ODI hundred and joined the 12,000-run club as India completed a record chase with remarkable ease. “You can never say this wicket will have 250 or 300 runs. Kotak further reflected on how dramatically batting standards have changed, from 183 being a huge score in the 60-over era of the 1983 World Cup to 400 not being enough today. Like I said, maybe a 300-run wicket, and the other team have to fight hard to get to 320-330.
“When we talk about pitches, see, I don’t think anyone in the world can make a so-called ‘perfect pitch’,” Kotak said at the post-match media interaction. If there is a batting collapse, curators will be criticised and vice-versa when it turns out to be a belter,” he said.
