Vidarbha head coach Chandrakant Pandit, on Friday, was critical of the Krishnagiri pitch after his team thrashed Kerala by an innings and 11 runs to cruise into the Ranji Trophy final in under two days.
"A semifinal deserves a better wicket than that. It was a dangerous pitch to bat on. Lot of players got hit, one of Kerala's batsmen (Ponnam Rahul) was struck twice. We hope to have a better playing surface for the final," Pandit said in the post match presser.
"We never expected the pitch to play like that. Anyone could've got injured. You want fair conditions for both sides in a crunch game," Pandit added.
Pandit heaped praise on skipper Faiz Fazal whose 75 on day one made batting look easy on a strip where batsmen struggled to put bat on ball.
READ: Ranji Trophy: Vidarbha topples abject Kerala in under two days, reaches final
"I would like to credit my captain Faiz for his knock yesterday. The way he applied himself in conditions that weren't exactly conducive for batsmen was brilliant. His partnership with Wasim Jaffer was a delight to watch. Under the given circumstances, this was one of Faiz's best innings this season," Pandit noted.
Asked if he expected Kerala, which was playing in its maiden semifinal, to capitulate in such dramatic fashion, Pandit said, "You don't think about these things when you come to play a match. Any team which qualifies for the quarters or semis has gone through the grind of the league phase and deserves to be in the knockouts."
Speaking of the young talent pool at his disposal, Atharwa Taide and Yash Thakur in particular, Pandit explained, "The idea is to have the best combination possible. But at the same time, we want to groom youngsters who can serve the side for the next 10-15 years.
So when they play alongside the likes of Faiz Fazal, Wasim Jaffer and Ganesh Satish, they learn the nuances of the game."
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