Top spot at stake; BCCI wants turner at Eden

Zeecric Bureau Kolkata: Fresh after the Kotla pitch fiasco during the recently concluded India-Sri Lanka series, the BCCI was in murky waters yet again due to the cricket pitch as Eden Gardens curator Prabir Mukherjee said that he had been asked to alter the turf so that the home team could fare better and he had refused. A day after India’s humiliating defeat to South Africa at Nagpur, it was learnt that the apex board wanted Eden Gardens’ pitch to be a spin friendly ‘turner’, clearly hinting at favours for the home team that has well bred spinners. “Can anyone please define what exactly is a turner? If you want the ball to turn square from day one, why do you need a curator? The Eden Gardens wicket will have even bounce and decent carry. Spinners will come into play as the match meanders along,” Prabir said.He further said, “There has been no official instruction. I was talking to some BCCI officials and it appeared that the team management wants a spinning wicket, but that was it.”The BCCI Pitch and Grounds Committee has already been penalized for failing to meet the international standards for the Feroze Shah Kotla pitch in Delhi, where the last ODI against Sri Lanka was called-off by the umpires after batsmen started getting hurt due to the poor nature of the strip.