Former India captain and presently the coach of India U’19 team came hard at the wickets being produced for recent Ranji Trophy matches . Although not specifically sharing which wicket he is talking about , but clearly one would assume he is pointing out to the recent match that Bengal played against Orissa in Kalyani . The wicket at the Bengal Cricket Academy came under a lot of criticism with Orissa team management making an official complain to BCCI , referring the wicket to be under prepared . At least 4 matches this season ended in two days time ( Saurashtra vs Hyderabad & Saurashtra vs Jharkhand at Rajkot , J&K vs Services at Jammu and the match in Kalyani ) , which is not a good advertisement for the premier first class tournament of the country .
Dravid , who is now in Kolkata for the U’19 Tri Nation Series have termed the wicket in Kalyani as poor . In fact there have been at least 4 matches in Ranji this season that ended in just 2 days . According to Dravid ,“ It is very disappointing to see such wickets being produced in domestic cricket . I would term the wickets poor .” He added ,“Preparing square turners in Ranji Trophy is not a good advertisement for domestic cricket and BCCI . It’s a sheer wastage of money and energy .”
Dravid , who epitomizes sublime technique playing on trying conditions feels it is not fair to judge an individual on these surfaces . He feels the state associations should look at ,“ Producing next level cricketers rather than winning a match or two in Ranji Trophy on square turners .”
Dravid , who has been in the technical committee of BCCI feels relieved to see the knock out matches of Ranji Trophy being played on neutral venues . For him ,“Sporting wicket does not necessarily mean a green top , but there should be an even contest .” signed off The Wall .