Ranji final: Bengal coach Arun Lal slams pitch, asks BCCI to intervene

Rajkot, March 9:  Bengal coach Arun Lal on Monday slammed the Ranji Trophy final pitch, stating that it was "very poor" as his side took on Saurashtra on the first day of the five-day contest here.

He asked the BCCI to probe how such a sub-standard surface was prepared for a big game like this. "Very poor wicket. The board has to look into things like these. The ball is not coming up. This is not good for cricket. The ball is not getting off, it is dusting, reversing. Very poor," Lal said after the day's play.

Saurashtra reached 206/5 at close of play with a lot of balls keeping very low, especially in the final session.

Asked if he would speak to BCCI President Sourav Ganguly regarding the matter, Lal said: "That is not my job. They should look into it on their own."

Young pacer Akash Deep took three wickets as Bengal kept Saurashtra in check on Day 1. Akash Deep, 23, returned the day's best figures of 3/41 while pace spearhead Ishan Porel (1/37) and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed (1/56) picked up one wicket each. Mukesh Kumar, who was the hero of Bengal's semifinal win over Karnataka at the Eden Gardens, remained wicketless after the first day's play.

"We had to attack the batsman (in the third session). You have to contain runs, like I said it is a poor wicket. Medium pacers are bowling with one slip and there is no chance of the ball carrying to the slips. It would be a disgrace if the ball starts rolling through on Day 3," said Lal.