India vs New Zealand, 1st T20I: ‘Curating’ it right for special debuts on November 17 | Cricket News – Times of India

A shot of the ground staff working on the pitch at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, which will host the first T20I between India and New Zealand (TOI Photo)

JAIPUR: The statistics at Sawai Mansingh (SMS) Stadium heavily favour India. In 13 matches, 12 ODIs and a solo Test, India have won eight and drawn one. A happy hunting ground for the home team it seems. But the fact that India will be back at the venue after eight long years, makes these results irrelevant, more so because T20 internationals make their first appearance at the stadium with the India-New Zealand match on Wednesday.
Other high-profile debuts on the day would be of former captain Rahul Dravid as India head coach and Rohit Sharma as the full-time T20I skipper.
The day will herald a fresh start for so many involved and to ensure the hype is matched and the standards are met, the central zone pitch curator Taposh Chatterjee has been ‘protecting’ the wicket well.
“As we were aware of the match date, we have protected the pitch from overuse and underuse to ensure the juice remains and the pitch is not slow. It has been tested during Colvin Shield, Under-19 matches, practice matches for state senior team and senior women challenger trophy,” the curator said.
He added that the strip at the centre will be used for the match.
“The simple reason behind using the fifth strip was to make sure that the seats are not killed and the dressing room is easily visible. These permutations and combinations have to be kept in mind. Since it is only one match, we could make it possible. During the IPL, we invariably have to keep rotating the wickets to avoid overuse,” Chatterjee said.
The USP of the shortest format of the game is its high-scoring nature, and what’s it without skyscrapers.
“People should get value for money they spent on tickets to watch a T20 match. Expectation is of witnessing good high-scoring matches. So keeping that in mind, a wicket has to be readied. In T20s, if there is no consistent bounce, it cannot be a high-scoring pitch or if there is lateral movement, it becomes difficult to score,” the curator mentioned.
The match night will be a ‘special occasion’ for many and Chatterjee will be one of them.
“For Rajasthan, it is a very happy moment as an international match is happening after eight years. Since it is my home state, I am putting in extra effort to ensure everything goes well,” he signed off.