Odisha complains against ‘underprepared’ pitch in West Bengal

After being bundled out for a shocking 37 in the second innings of Ranji Trophy tie against Bengal, where they lost the match by 133 runs, Odisha has complained against the ‘underprepared’ and ‘unplayable’ pitch at the Bengal Cricket Academy ground in Kalyani.

The four-day Ranji Trophy match ended in less than two days, as 40 wickets tumbled like nine pins. This is the first time Kalyani hosted any first class pitch and it drew criticism from all quarters.

Interestingly, the Team Manager of Odisha team had lodged the complaint earlier when Bengal was batting in the second innings. Some of Bengal players even sustained injuries because of the uneven bounce in the pitch, but nobody bothered to listen to him. OCA Secretary slammed the pitch, saying “you can’t play a first-class match on such a wicket”.

This is the second lowest total by Odisha team in Ranji Trophy history. They scored 35 against Bihar in 1958-59. But, this time, they just managed to score two runs more – 37. Ashok Dinda took seven wickets. The victory target was just 171, but it was too much on that pitch.

Scores:

Bengal 142 (Abhimanyu Easwaran 88; Dhiraj Singh 5/58, Suryakant Pradhan 3/15) & 135 (Easwaran 39, Sudip Chatterjee 37, Manoj Tiwary 35; Basant Mohanty 5/16, Dhiraj Singh 2/47).

Odisha 107 (Ranjit Singh 20, Arabind Singh 21; Aamir Gani 6/34, Pragyan Ojha 2/25, Anurag Tiwari 2/26) & 37 (Arabind Singh 7, Jayant Behera 7*; Ashok Dinda 7/19, Pragyan Ojha 3/14).