The Maharashtra Cricket Association International stadium is located on the outskirts of Pune city—away from the bustling city and adjacent to the Information Technology Park in Hinjewadi. Weary, old remnants of the Deccan Plateau overlook the five year old stadium. However its cricket history dates back to 1893, when it hosted its maiden first class game of cricket—The Europeans versus the Parsees at the Deccan Gymkhana. And, 124 years later Pune is hosting its first Test match. On Thursday, it officially became India's 25th Test match venue, with the first Test match between India and Australia being played here.
The mercury hung around 35 degrees, the sun merciless, as it made most of a cloudless day. The stadium with a capacity of seating 37,500 had a sparse attendance of 7,504 spectators to witness the first day's play. Most of them were school kids, brought in by the local association in an attempt to popularise Test cricket in this rapid-fire age of Twenty20. The stadium has already hosted One Day Internationals, Indian Premier League matches and Twenty20 international matches, all full houses. But the stadium has had a rough ride getting to this point and the future remains equally bumpy as the state association grapples with financial woes and litigation on various fronts.
The MCA helmed by Ajay Shirke had signed a sponsorship deal for the stadium with the Sahara Group but the latter defaulted on the deal after an initial payment of Rs 83 crores. The matter went into arbitration but has also left the association's finances in the red. Another dispute, with the construction major Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Private Limited, is also subjudice as the company claimed 172 crores from MCA over payment of dues.
The state association suffered another hit with its president Shirke being ousted from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the Supreme Court order in January.
The venue, standing out smartly amidst ongoing construction projects dotting the Pune -Mumbai expressway started its Test journey on a wrong note with the dry wicket becoming the talking point even before the captains turned up for the toss. It held up on affording turn and reverse swing to spinner and seamers respectively giving its curator former first class player Pandurang Salgaoncar some breathing space.
Spin legend Shane Warne called it “an eighth day wicket”.
Former Indian skipper and team director Ravi Shastri was stinging in his criticism of the wicket saying, "I have never seen a wicket like this. It is so dry and has so many racks that it will require urgent dermatologist's attention by the end of the match!”
There were serious concerns whether the match would last all five days. Both the teams made a cautious start to the Test with Indian skipper pressing off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin into action in the second over of the day itself. The wicket appeared like a fifth day wicket by the time umpires called stumps—it produced turn and very little bounce. The odd ball from the spinners popped up as the day progressed. But it lasted as the Australian batsmen applied themselves to negotiate any demons the track had in store for them.
Speaking about the wicket, Sanjay Bangar—batting coach of Team India said, “Negotiating the pitch is all about various aspects of batting. In England, you get seaming tracks, in Auistralia, bounce, and in India, turn. Can't pass a judgement on the wicket on day one of the Test match.”
Matt Renshaw—the 20-year-old Aussie opener who was playing his 5th Test match and first in India, said he has “never seen a wicket like that. I went with an open mind—to do what I would do in Australia, bat as long as possible, wear the bowlers down.”
Indian batsmen have to negotiate a deteriorating wicket when they bat next and they will be the team which will bat last in the match—always a challenge on Indian wickets.
India had been criticised for giving rank turners in the South Africa series in 2015—Nagpur had even been given an official warning for a poor pitch.
Pune wouldn't want this black mark on its nascent Test journey.
