Published 15:01 IST, January 27th 2020
Harsha Bhogle comically compares New Zealand's small cricket grounds to TV sets
Famous commentator Harsha Bhogle talked about the ridiculously small Eden Park ground in Auckland which played host to the first two T20I NZ vs IND matches.
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India have been dominant in the ongoing five-match T20 International series in New Zealand. Both the matches played so far have gone India's way after the Men in Blue demonstrated some very strong performances with the bat. However, the small size of the Eden Park boundaries was under fire by fans and experts, who blamed the ground for being too easy to score on.
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Harsha Bhogle comically asks for bigger cricket grounds
The first T20I between New Zealand and India had the Blackcaps setting a target of 203 for India but the Men in Blue chased this high total with a lot of ease and even with overs to spare. This brought the attention to the high-scoring nature of the ground which could be credited not to its pitch but its ridiculously small boundaries. The straight boundary at Eden Park was barely 55 metres long and this lack of length allowed batsman to smack sixes at the ground for fun. Similar results were seen in the second match of the series which was also played at the same ground.
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While speaking to a cricket portal, Harsha Bhogle brought up this topic and expressed his view that international cricket should not be played at small grounds like the Eden Park in Auckland. Bhogle acknowledged the heritage and history that has been linked to Eden Park and he also talked about different boundary dimensions that have been experimented with at the ground. However, Bhogle maintained that not only are modern batsmen stronger but their bats also make them more capable of hitting big sixes.
In such a scenario, a small ground like Eden Park can inflate scores heavily. In typical Harsha Bhogle fashion, the famous commentator even proceeded to sarcastically predict that cricket may soon be played on TV sets if the grounds keep shrinking. The ground also earned some flak for its small boundaries in 2018 when Australia completed a record chase of 244 at the same ground against New Zealand in just 18.5 overs. India will now face New Zealand at Hamilton as they lead the series, 2-0.
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15:01 IST, January 27th 2020