BOMBAY, 1 August 2003 — Far removed from the stars and their performances, the focus this week shifts to the inanimate, but no less an important part of the popular game of cricket, the 22-yard strip — the pitch — which indeed is the stage on which the players enact their appointed parts.

Everyone seemed to have forgotten a grandiose plan that had been drawn up by the top honcho of Indian cricket, Jagmohan Dalmiya, to drastically change the nature of Indian pitches in order to make them pace oriented. The matter, however, was dug up when the chairman of the national pitch committee, Kasturi Rangan resigned in disgust last week. Even though Dalmiya did his best to play down the unsavory incident and gave “poor health” as the reason for the exit of former paceman and probably the oldest curator in the country.

Kasturi, however, did not hide his utter frustration for the manner in which he was allowed to function in his capacity as the head of the committee. Actually he was not assigned any work since his appointment, in succession to Kapil Dev.

The resignation of Kasturi Rangan opens a whole Pandora’s Box on what must surely be one of the most infamous chapters in the history of Indian cricket. That the BCCI is the richest cricket body in the world, there is hardly any doubt. But then a charge can also be made that it occasionally spends vast sums of money on zero returns.

One such futile exercise was the largescale pitch-improvement program undertaken in 1997. The object was to make fast and bouncy wickets in order to help develop fast bowlers.

First soil experts from Australia and New Zealand were invited by the BCCI. They went around, collecting samples and then sending them back to their countries for further research. The outcome was that they recommended either import of foreign soil or grass from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

Now, whether some are of international standard or below par, there are no less than 27 grounds around the country where international matches are played. Even if just ten prime venues were selected, the cost of re-laying pitches with foreign soil or grass would indeed have been staggering.

As an afterthought, the BCCI appointed Kapil Dev as the director of the pitch committee, with a monthly honorarium of 50,000 rupees. Several zonal directors were also appointed at various centers (on 30,000 rupees a month).

It was downright naïve on anyone’s part to think that a top quality pace bowler could also produce fast pitches. Kapil, not quite comfortable with the strange assignment, went around a few times, stood on famous pitches, with TV cameras in attendance. And then suddenly decided to quit. It must be said to his credit that he returned the entire amount he had received as honoraria.

The international pitches, up for socalled pace orientation, all went back to the local malis (gardners), but not before lakhs of dollars had gone down the drain. Even the last vestige of the grand Dalmiya Pitch Plan has now vanished with the resignation of the last expert, Kasturi Rangan. Where the high ambition was fast pitches, as are in existence in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, today even those that were considered highly decent for an international fixture, have deteriorated for lack of proper care.

The Green Park wicket at Kanpur, which was once considered one of the best in the country, along with its lush green and smooth outfield, has today been reduced to a crater. The attempt to re-lay it with fresh soil and all the mix needed to make it pacier, have flopped.

All the ingredients were put in place, but lack of expertise and proper tending has led the square to sink four to five inches below the rest of the ground. The venue that was to host the first Test match against New Zealand in October, has been put out of commission. The once famous Green Park pitch is now an ungainly sight of a sunken dry trough smack in the center of the field. Not just the players please, there are other important things as well that go to making cricket a high-income generating game, at least in India. The sad state of the Green Park wicket drives home that lesson quite forcefully.