February 05, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 26, 1429

NEW DELHI, Feb 4: India should prepare bouncy pitches to help their young fast bowlers and batsmen become accustomed to overseas conditions, chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said.

Indian pitches are characterised by low bouncing, spin-friendly conditions, which also give batsmen an advantage and are not prevalent outside Asia.

Vengsarkar, a former India captain, also wanted all of the Ranji Trophy national championship matches played on neutral venues to allow curators the freedom to prepare more lively pitches instead of ones that would give the home side an advantage, the Indian Express reported on Monday.

“We need to have more bouncy wickets..., all Ranji matches should be played at neutral venues,” he was quoted as saying.

Some Ranji Trophy games are already being played at neutral venues and pitches are slowly improving, from those with low bounce which either helped batsmen or spinners.

“There is no pressure on curators when matches are played on neutral venues. We can offer sporty wickets,” added former India player Dhiraj Parsana, who is now a pitch curator.

In recent years, the Indian bowling attack has gone from being heavily dependent on spinners to one that is more balanced with the arrival of several talented pace bowlers.—Reuters