IND Vs ENG 2nd Test: BCCI Curator Sent Off, India Team Management Gets Involved

Following the defeat in the first Test in Chennai, the Indian cricket board has removed its curator who was to oversee the pitch preparation at the MA Chidambaram Stadium for the second Test, starting

"It is a surprise that no BCCI curator is at the spot as the BCCI sent back Taposh after the first Test when the players showed their displeasure with the way the pitch [for the first Test] behaved on the first two days. The MA Chidambaram Stadium has not had a proper curator for a long time. Earlier, K Parthasarathy, the head groundsman, was looking after it, but he had not been a regular in the past few years," said a source close to the development.

"The wicket for the second Test is being prepared under the supervision of the team management. There has been no proper watering. The surface for the first Test had red soil and the pitch to be used for the second match is of black soil," he said.

Over the last 15 years, the Chennai pitch has attracted a lot of attention due to the lack of grass and its weird behavior due to a mixture of red and black soils. The pitch for the next game is also a mix, with its topping being of black soil while the one used for the first Test was entire of red soil.

"At other grounds like Bengaluru, Kolkata, or Mumbai, the grass recovers quickly. But not in Chennai nowadays. There is a combination of reasons for this. One is that there are far too many matches being played and the other is the Ranji Trophy team's demands. You would have noticed in the Indian Premier League also that chasing is always difficult here. There is no proper curator looking after it," he said.

The last Test held in Chennai prior to the just-concluded first Test was also against England, in 2016-17. That pitch was prepared by BCCI curator PR Viswanathan, who has since retired.

The ongoing Test series is happening during Covid-19 and there are back-to-back games at each venue, an unusual happening.