Dhoni, Sangakkara differ on Motera pitch
Posted on Nov 20, 2009 at 17:28 | Updated Nov 21, 2009 at 11:45
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Ahmedabad: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Friday described the Motera featherbed as a bowler-hostile track but his Sri Lankan counterpart Kumar Sangakkara had no issues with the strip which he described as a "true" wicket.
Dhoni said the pitch lacked bounce and it also did not deteriorate after the third day, as he had expected.
"We were expecting a batting pitch but thought it would deteriorate after the third day. But it did not. It also lacked bounce. At the end it did not help any bowler - pacers or spinners," Dhoni said after the first Test ended in a draw.
Sangakkara, however, differed with Dhoni, saying despite the drawn match the pitch was the ultimate winner.
"Ultimately, the winner is the wicket. It stayed true for five days. The Indians showed a lot of spunk to save the match," the visiting captain said.
A staggering 1598 runs were scored over five days, including seven centuries, while just 21 wickets fell in the Test.
Sangakkara's colleague and man of the match Mahela Jayawardene was, however, disappointed with the wicket on which he notched up his first triple-figure score in India.
"I thought it would deteriorate but it did very slowly. I lacked pace and bounce. Otherwise our spinners would have got a few of Indian wickets in their second innings and would have
put pressure on them. That was the disappointment," said Jayawardene who scored 275.
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