BCCI probe sought as Chennai pitch curator accused of ignoring instructions during Chepauk Test against England

More than a year after England’s tour of India 2021, startling revelations regarding the Test series have come to the fore. Going by reports, the curator of the pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium didn’t follow the instructions of the team management in the first Test.

Then head coach Ravi Shastri, then bowling coach Bharat Arun had sent in instructions, but the curator, apparently, didn’t follow their instructions. India went on to lose the game at the Chepauk by 227 runs and conceded a crucial 1-0 lead to the Three Lions, led by Joe Root.

Root slammed 218 runs in the game with Dom Bess and Jack Leach doing well with the ball. The loss didn’t cost India must as they went on to win the remaining three Tests of the series.

Coach asked the curator to leave the pitch as it is

“Ravi Shastri and Bharat Arun were at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk on the evening of February 4, a day before the start of the Test against England. The head coach and the bowling coach explicitly told the curator and the groundsmen that the pitch should be left the way it is, and the water and roller should not be used.

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“Having conveyed it with absolute clarity, they left the stadium with the rest of the team,” sources, who were present on the ground that evening, was quoted as saying in The Times of India (TOI).

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is now set to investigate the entire issue on the happenings during the Test in Chennai.

Going by sources, the curator watered the pitch due to which it became a flat deck. Thereafter, Root made a mockery of the Indian bowling attack. He also became the Player of the Match.

It was also reported that the curator said a “higher authority” asked the groundsmen to water the pitch. The management wasn’t happy with the curator’s actions.

One of the sources referred to the act as “extremely serious misdemeanour”. More details on BCCI’s investigations on the matter remain to be seen.