India's Sachin Tendulkar is opposed to the use of neutral venues for the knockout stages of the Ranji Trophy after a rare appearance in the tournament by the leading batsman drew a very small crowd. Playing his first national championship game for Mumbai in nearly two years, Tendulkar amassed 122 runs on Monday as part of a 232-run partnership with former India opener Wasim Jaffer in the ongoing semifinal against Saurashtra. However, only a few spectators turned up to watch the game in Chennai, where the contest is being played after the cricket board introduced the neutral venue rule last season to prevent home teams preparing favorable pitches. “I'm not in favor of neutral venues,” Tendulkar was quoted as saying by the Indian media. “I feel either team should play at its home ground. “As for the wicket, it should be monitored, which would be the case if a team is playing on its home ground. “It is fun to have crowd supporting you at your home ground, and against you in away games. That adds to the intensity, people rooting for you, the atmosphere is just different.” Tamil Nadu, whose home ground is Chennai, was playing the other semifinal against Uttar Pradesh in Nagpur. Vettori excited New Zealand cricket captain Daniel Vettori said Tuesday he is excited by the prospect of adding a third Test to India's tour starting in March. Ratnakar Shetty, chief administrative officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), confirmed Monday that India had asked New Zealand to schedule an extra Test to offset losses after the cancellation of India's matches against England and Pakistan. A spokesman for New Zealand Cricket said Tuesday a decision on India's request was likely to be made this week.
