In stark contrast to what his national team may have felt about the Kanpur pitch that helped India square the Test series, former South Africa batsman Kepler Wessels on Wednesday said foreign teams should expect the hosts to play according to their strengths.
"India played well and I think there was no problem with the pitch. In a foreign country, you expect the hosts play according to their strength," Wessels, who is coach of Indian Premier League team 'Chennai Super Kings' said on arrival in Chandigarh.
The tailor-made pitch at Green Park helped Indian spinners a lot, giving them an easy win in the end over the Proteas, the Test match finishing in three days.
"I don't see the pitch as any issue as far as I am concerned," Wessels told reporters.
"In fact, I was surprised that the two other tracks (Chennai, Ahmedabad) did not turn that much," he said.
Commenting on his IPL team, he said it is well-balanced, with a strong batting line-up being their main strength.
Barring Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, other top players, including Stephen Fleming, Matthew Hayden, Jacob Oram, Michael Hussey, Muttiah Muralitharan, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel, Vidyut Shivaramakrishnan, Anirudh Shrikant, P Amarnath, S Badrinath and local player Manpreet Goni reached Chandigarh in the afternoon.
They will be playing against local favourites Punjab Kings in Mohali on Saturday.
"We have some good Indian players in the team. They will definitely learn a lot by rubbing shoulders with the international players," Wessels said.
Wessels does not see any problem about big money being offered to players in the IPL.
"I think cricket Boards have support systems in place to help younger players who suddenly find themselves becoming rich and famous overnight," he said.
He also had a word of praise for Dhoni, who is also captain of the India's ODI team.
"He is absolutely a brilliant player and enjoys his captaincy. Players gel with him," he said.
Wessels also does not see shorter format of the game posing any threat to Tests, but opined that ODIs may be affected somewhat by the advent of T20.
