Internet Desk: Indian T20 captain MS Dhoni feels that the low scoring games is not doing good at all for the teams ahead of the World T20. Dhoni said that the pitches in Mirpur during the Asia Cup haven’t been conducive for T20s but such conditions are helping his team’s batsmen to play with more circumspection. His bowlers hit his preferred lengths to knock over Pakistan for just 83 and in response India lost five wickets before completing the chase.
He feels that in the opening game India could have not scored 166 if Rohit and Hardik would not have been so aggressive. He also feels that India was planning for a good practice in the Asia Cup ahead of the World T20.
According to Ms Dhoni the Mirpur wicket has been a typical one in this Asia Cup which is offering pace and bounce. Mirpur is known for its slow turner and huge amount of runs. The average score for teams batting first has progressively gone down in Mirpur since February 22 when Afghanistan posted 178 for 7 against Oman. Teams have henceforth scored 172, 166, 129, 133 and 83 batting first.
At least three of those matches have been played on green tops and Dhoni claimed at the toss on Saturday that it was a greener surface than the one they played on against Bangladesh on February 24.
There are seven pitches in the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium with the two on the extreme ends hardly used because it cuts down the boundary sizes. The five in the middle have hosted 10 Under-19 World Cup games since January 28, and towards the end of that tournament, the pitches were reacting to cooler weather conditions. They had become sticky with the humidity, and juiced up for fast bowling which was evident in the Under-19 World Cup semi-finals and final.
In this tournament, the preference has been towards adding cut grass to the surface in the first game between India and Bangladesh, while the pitch used two days later in the match between Bangladesh and the UAE had live grass and green patches that aided seam movement greatly. The idea to use cut grass is often to keep the square binded for heavy use in short tournaments. It has happened in the past too, as the Mirpur venue is one of the most used venues in Bangladesh.
The focus has been to avoid presenting a poor surface towards the end of such tournaments, particularly in the final, which seems to be the case in the Asia Cup too.
It seems that the cut grass can be taken off and it might produce big scores but it will be interesting to see what’s underneath the surface.