Pathetic pitch leads to a draw

If this is what Test cricket has got to offer in the 21st century, it could well nigh sink into oblivion. The 2nd Test between India and Pakistan at Eden Gardens proved to be a damp squib ultimately. After 5 long days of toil, the Test match laboured into a yawning draw, thanks to a painfully unresponsive pitch. All the more surprising, since this comes weeks before a much awaited tour to Australia.

Such pitches do no good to anyone, the teams, the players, the game as a whole. I think the board should seriously consider upgrading the problematic venues, I mean their pitches. Venues like Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kolkata, Kanpur, Delhi are some of these.

Pakistan struggled to capture even 5 wickets per innings in Kolkata. India fared better, managing to get Pak all out in the first innings, and getting only 4 wickets in the Pak second inning, even on the 5th day. Any turn/bounce offered by the pitch was only due to the footmarks. So nothing for the spinners as well.

Brief scores:
India 616 for 5 dec (Jaffer 202, Laxman 112*, Ganguly 102, Tendulkar 82) and 184 for 4 dec (Jaffer 56) drew with Pakistan 456 (Misbah 161*, Akmal 119, Harbhajan 5-122) and 126 for 4 (Younis 107*, Yousuf 43*)