'Go ask Mr. Dravid and curator about it’ - Vikram Rathour on Mirpur pitch ahead of second BAN vs IND Test

After the Gabba massacre during Australia vs South Africa match, intense discussions over the pitch have once again become a normal thing before a Test match. In the pre-match press conference before the second and final Test between Bangladesh and India, batting coach Vikram Rathour faced at least six questions about the same, which eventually frustrated the 53-year-old.

The former cricketer was told that India head coach Rahul Dravid went to the pitch curator's room to have a discussion and was later asked about the agenda of the same. Seemed perplexed by the question, Rathour said to ask Dravid about it. However, later on, he shared an update about the pitch and mentioned how their approach will be in the upcoming game.

“You need to go and ask Mr Dravid and the curator. I don't know what conversations happened. Whatever wicket we get we are fine with it. There are absolutely no issues from our side,” Rathour said. 

“We still haven't really looked at the surface. It's kind of covered with a lot of dead grass. How will it play? It's difficult. We need to put as many runs as possible, I can't put a number to it. If we get to bat first, we will look to put up a big score,” he added.

There used to be low-scoring games but it's much better now: Rathour

The pitch in Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium tends to assist the fast bowlers and the Indian management wants to take advantage of it in the second Test. Rathour in the pre-match press conference revealed that they haven’t made a specific plan so far but believe that the wicket will be supportive. He also mentioned that the Mirpur pitch has become better in recent times as it doesn’t produce low-scoring games anymore.

“We are expecting it to be a supporting wicket, whichever way it goes, we want the Test match to be decided. Both the teams are looking forward to having a good Test match. It's definitely much better now. It used to be a pretty slow and low wicket. There used to be low-scoring games but it's much better now. Even in ODIs, we saw it had more help for bowlers. It had more pace. I'm sure this game will get decided,” the former cricketer said.