Alright, you wanna know how to crack the code at Ekana, huh? Picking bat or bowl first. Trickier than it looks. So I dragged myself down there today, strong coffee in hand, ready to figure it out. Sun was already beating down pretty good.

First thing, I just walked the whole damn boundary line. Slow walk. Paying attention, y’know? Looked at different spots. Wasn’t just gonna stand near the sightscreen and guess. Needed to see what the surface was offering.

What My Eyes Told Me

Got up close to the pitch block itself.

How To Decide Batting Vs Bowling Pitch At Ekana Sports City Expert Tips

  • Colour: It wasn’t some fresh green beauty. Looked drier than last week. More of a pale brown kinda colour all over.
  • Grass: Could barely see it! Yeah, a few fine little blades sticking up here and there, but mostly shaved right down. Almost bald in patches.
  • Cracks: Ah yeah, now that was interesting. Saw a fair few cracks, especially down one end near the bowler’s run-up. Not massive gaping holes, but definite lines you could see if you squinted.
  • Evenness: Didn’t look perfectly flat. Could see it had some character. Some little ridges here, a slight depression near the popping crease at one end.

While I was poking around, ran into one of the old stadium dogs – knows the place better than the curator, I swear. And Raju, a mate who helps prep the outfield sometimes, wandered over.

Me: “So Raju, bat first today?”

Raju: He spat. “Nah, man. The morning? That new ball? It’ll talk with this surface. Gets tacky underfoot quick once the sun gets high too. Seen it happen.”

Interesting. He wasn’t selling sunshine and rainbows for batting.

Putting it All Together

Stood back, thinking.

  • Super dry surface ✅
  • Barely any grass cover ✅
  • Visible cracks (potential for later uneven bounce) ✅
  • Not a perfect pancake flat ✅
  • Local guy warning about morning juice & tackiness ✅

Felt like the deck might be hiding something. Yeah, dry and brown looks bat-friendly initially. But that lack of grass, those little cracks, and the early moisture? That shouted bowling advantage early doors. And later, spin might come into play if it crumbled, though Raju mentioned it often holds together oddly well.

Didn’t seem like one of those days where it would stay true all day long for big runs. Seemed more like the bowlers get help first, maybe struggle a bit later, but pitch might misbehave.

My Gut Feeling Call:

Winning the toss? I’d chuck the other team in. Bowl first. Try exploit whatever juice there might be early on. Get among ’em. Because chasing later, even if it gets tricky, felt better than trying to build a big score early on what might be a bit sneaky. That sunshine bakes it fast. Learned my lesson last time assuming dry = bat.

Bottom Line:

Don’t just look at the colour. Ekana plays tricks. Get close, look for the cracks, feel the damn thing if you can, hunt for even tiny patches of grass. And for God’s sake, talk to the grounds guys or the stadium dog. They know the secrets. Not a batting paradise today, despite what the colour said.

By A0g9