Curator gets thanks, prize, from Dhoni

Kanpur: A grateful Mahendra Singh Dhoni sent a note of thanks and Rs 10,000 to Green Park Stadium's pitch curator for preparing the turning track that helped the hosts clinch the series-levelling win over South Africa in the third Test here.

Curator Shiv Kumar said he was pleasantly surprised to receive a personal note of thanks and the cash reward from the stand-in Test skipper after the hosts beat the Proteas inside three days on a crumbling pitch to level the series 1-1.

Kumar said regular Test skipper Anil Kumble, who missed the decider due to a groin injury, also came down to meet and thank him for preparing the "spinner-friendly" pitch after the match.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who won the Man of the Series award for scalping 19 wickets, also met Kumar to praise and thank him.

However, Kumar maintained that the Green Park wicket was a sporting one and it was unfair to say that it only aided the slower bowlers.

"The South African batsmen just couldn't get used to it (the pitch) and were unsure of how the ball would behave," he said.

Meanwhile, BCCI Vice-President Rajiv Shukla denied that the money was a 'reward' for the curator.

"It is a general practice to give some money to the curator so that he can distribute it among the groundsmen. This money is contributed by the players and given to the curator," he said.

"Even when India lost the match in Ahmedabad, the cricketers gave tips to the curator. It was not any special case in Kanpur," Shukla said.

"If giving money to the curator ensured a win, we would have won all the matches," he added.

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