Don't blame us for drawn encounters: VCA curator

Having played Ranji Trophy for 17 years, Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) curator Praveen Hingnekar knows a thing or two about how a surface must behave for a Test

Having played Ranji Trophy for 17 years, Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) curator Praveen Hingnekar knows a thing or two about how a surface must behave for a Test. Currently, he's busy trying to get the picturesque VCA Stadium ready for the third and final Test between India and New Zealand that gets underway tomorrow.

There has been persistent rain in the 'Orange City' over the last three days or so, and Hingnekar was busy with three super soppers when MiD DAY approached the former Vidarbha player.

On the back of two drawn Tests in the series, Hingnekar, who is under pressure to prepare a result-oriented strip, blamed India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for criticising a curator for his bowlers' failure to take 20 Kiwi scalps: "I don't think that the curator can be blamed for the result of a Test. If opposition bowlers can take wickets, then why can't our bowlers do so? It is the basic failure of bowlers to get the job done.

"I have played Ranji Trophy, so I know what it is like to win and lose matches. The last two matches here had results, and this time too it would be a sporting wicket," he said.

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