'Surfaces of this kind take skills out of the picture' - Tiwary

Manoj Tiwary, the Bengal captain, has called for surfaces of the kind that hosted the India-England Tests in Rajkot and Visakhapatnam to be prepared for the Ranji Trophy. His assessment comes after the season's first two-day finish, Baroda's 21-run win against Bengal in a Group A fixture in Lahli, where the fast bowlers claimed 38 of the 40 wickets to fall.

As many as 23 wickets fell on the opening day, the most in a day so far this season, with neither side managing to pass 100 in their first innings. The remaining 17 fell on day two. That Tiwary's fourth-innings 39 was the highest score of the match indicated how tough batting was at a venue that has traditionally been regarded as a seamer's paradise.

"I think we should be playing on surfaces close to what the Indian team plays on in the current season so that those who perform and are picked immediately don't have to make drastic adjustments," Tiwary told ESPNcricinfo. "I said it even yesterday, when we had a chance of winning despite conceding a lead, that on these kind of surfaces you can't be chasing more than 120. Not really ideal, isn't it?

"It would be good to play on surfaces that bring not just the fast bowlers but spinners into the picture too. It's disappointing to lose, we played some bad shots too, but surfaces of this kind take skills out of the picture. It's understandable if it's a greentop with consistent bounce, but here it wasn't. Lahli is probably the toughest surface in the country, but unfortunately this was simply very very tough. Having said that, credit to Baroda. The wicket was same for both sides. "

Tiwary pointed to damp patches at both ends as the cause of the inconsistent bounce. "There were green patches at drive-able lengths. Even fast bowlers weren't sure which way the ball would move if it pitched there. Every time you pitched the ball in certain areas, there were indentations. After a few overs, it was reduced to a guessing game. Some balls reared up, some balls kept low. This contributed to the dismissals no doubt, but it wasn't ideal to be playing on this kind of surface."

Would his assessment have changed had Bengal won? "Deepak Hooda has made a big double-century just two matches ago. He made centuries in his first two games. Sure, you can have a bad game, but on this surface, he too was struggling. In one game you can't be that bad," Tiwary said. "It would be nice to play on surfaces that at least offer consistent bounce.

"As a side we are disappointed, no doubt. But without making excuses, I'll say it was tough. As a state captain, I will highlight these observations to Dada (Sourav Ganguly, head of the BCCI's technical committee that proposed neutral venues in the Ranji Trophy). The think-tank can then decide. If you ask me, the surface that we played on in Bilaspur [against Punjab] earlier this season was the most ideal, where there was a little bit of everything for everyone."

Tiwary said Bengal's bowling after they sent Baroda in was the decisive his side's defeat - surprisingly, considering Baroda only made 97, with Ashok Dinda picking up six wickets. "We shouldn't have allowed them to get that much," Tiwary said. "We shouldn't have conceded more than 60. That made the difference especially with our second-innings scores being identical."