Top 5 pitch curators of the 21st century

#2 Sunil Chauhan - Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (Dharamshala)

Dharamshala pitch offers help to the seamers and spinners

Best Known for - Preparing wickets that help the seamers and spinners and reward the technically sound batsmen.

Regarded as one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the world, the HPCA stadium's pitch pleasantly contrasts to other pitches in India. The pitch here normally offers lateral movement to the fast bowlers, good bounce, turn to the spinners and a great carry to the keeper. The HPCA chief curator, Sunil Chauhan, who gave up his role as an administrator loves preparing decks that have an even bounce and some seam movement off the pitch.

While working as an admin manager at the HPCA ground, Chauhan attended a two-day seminar arranged by the BCCI on pitch curation. Post that he went on to attend a three-week course on pitch curation at Mohali.

The pitches prepared by Chauhan are a result of his learnings during the above course. The sight of fast bowlers dominating in early stages of the games played in India is a rare and welcoming one. The average first and second innings total in ODIs at HPCA stadium is 200 and in T20s it is 140.