A grateful Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] 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 in Kanpur.

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 three-match series 1-1.

• Dhoni passes a stern Test

Kumar said regular Test skipper Anil Kumble [Images], 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 [Images], who won the man of the series award for scalping 19 wickets, also met Kumar to praise and thank him.

• Images: India v SA, 3rd Test, day 3

However, Kumar maintained that the Green Park wicket was a sporting one and it is 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.