India bowling coach Morne Morkel has thrown his weight behind the curators at the Wankhede Stadium and the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera after the slightly tacky surfaces at both venues sparked debate during the T20 World Cup.
The pitches in Mumbai and Ahmedabad have not been the typical belters many expected. At the Wankhede Stadium, there was underlying moisture, while at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, the ball tended to grip, making stroke-play far from straightforward.
Most of the Indian batters found it difficult to force the pace under such conditions. Even free-flowing stroke-makers like Tilak Varma struggled to get going in the earlier games, and Suryakumar Yadav had to spend time adjusting before accelerating.
However, Morkel was sympathetic towards the ground staff, acknowledging the challenge of preparing high-scoring surfaces so late in the season.
“You know, credit to the curators for, like you say, so late in the season still producing wickets that are 200 plus surfaces. It’s a nightmare,” Morkel told the reporters.
The former South Africa pacer pointed out that curators are often caught between fan expectations and the practical realities of pitch preparation.
“I can think of it being a job of everybody wanting certain expectations of the fans, high-scoring games. There’s a lot of pressure on those guys. They put a lot of hard work into giving us the best surface that they can possibly prepare,” he said ahead of India’s Super Eight match against South Africa on Sunday.
For Morkel, predicting how a surface will behave remains one of the toughest aspects of the game.
“I still think till this day it’s very hard to say a wicket is going to play this way. I think we’re all always standing. We’ve got some sort of ideas. There’s moisture. It looks a little bit dry. It will hold or skid on.
“But in terms of controlling the wicket and saying this is how it’s going to play, it’s very hard to call that bang on.
“So that’s why, for me, it is so important that you have guys that can sum up the conditions quite well.”
Morkel did not directly address whether the pitches are tiring due to overuse during the domestic season and becoming increasingly difficult for batting. Instead, he stressed the importance of adaptability and learning through the tournament.
“And I think so far this tournament we’ve done that really well with batting and bowling. Bar the one game, the first game, I think it wasn’t a 200-plus surface. It was maybe a 170 surface, and we went out a little bit too hard at the start.
“But again, that was the learning. So every game there’s been learning so far, and I think that’s the beauty about this game, is that they will be learning from the surface every time,” Morkel said.
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