'No question of an underprepared pitch'

The Indians are under pressure to win at Kolkata after a disappointing result at Kanpur, but the curator at the Eden Gardens has denied that he received any specific instructions to prepare a dustbowl for the second Test, which starts on November 28.

Speaking to Press Trust of India, Prabir Mukherjee indicated that he had prepared a fair cricket pitch. "It will definitely not be a greentop. Some grass will have to be clipped. But at the same time the strip will not have a bald look," he said. "The pitch is being rolled and watered as per normal practice. There is no question of making an underprepared strip."

The South Africans would have happy memories of playing at the Eden Gardens. In their only Test here, in 1996-97, they thrashed India by 329 runs, with Gary Kirsten, Andrew Hudson and Daryll Cullinan all making hundreds, with Kirsten scoring a century in each innings. However, no-one from the current squad played that match, and it highly unlikely that South Africa will dominate in the manner they did eight years ago.

Meanwhile, ticket sales for the Test have been disappointing, reports PTI. An official of the Cricket Association of Bengal was quoted as saying: "Response was very disappointing on the first day of the public sale of tickets yesterday [November 25]. Even the clubs have taken only a small fraction of their quota of tickets."

The one-day international here between India and Pakistan on November 13 drew around 70,000 spectators, but far fewer are expected to turn up on Sunday. "The South African team does not have much star value," the official explained. "And the insipid draw in the first Test at Kanpur has further dampened public interest." The organisers have decided to issue daily tickets in an attempt to boost sales.