CRICKET | A dry and bald pitch in the offing for the second Test

India's cricket team prepares for a crucial Test match at home, with the pitch under scrutiny for potential turn.

Seldom does India’s men’s cricket team finds itself trailing in a Test series at home. No wonder then that the 22-yard strip at the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s stadium on the outskirts of the city here will be under the scanner much more than it did during the previous two Test matches that were played in India.

Unsurprisingly then that after walking on to the greens for India’s net session, India head coach Gautam Gambhir walked straight up to the pitch, which was until then covered with rugs. Gambhir had a long look at the surface and was involved in a brief discussion with Ashish Bhowmick, the BCCI’s chief curator and Taposh Chatterjee, member of BCCI’s elite curators’ panel.

Soon afterwards, three ground staff from local curator Jyotiram Phalke’s team were seen scuffing up the full-length area at the south end for a while before switching over to the other side. A grass mower was also at work for a while before the good-length areas and the centre of the pitch were covered with flax and the full-length was exposed under the afternoon heat.

Albeit not a rank turner like the one in the first Test at this venue, against Australia in 2017, that worked against India, the pitch — with a baldish look — is likely to be a turner.

Stating that he prefers to observe the pitch a day prior to the start of a match, Daryl Mitchell, the New Zealand batting mainstay, was confident its bowling unit will adapt to the nature of the surface.

“We can’t change the surface. For us, it’s reacting to what’s coming at us and adapting on the fly. As Kiwis, that’s what we pride ourselves on.” Mitchell said. “I am sure we will come up with a plan and find a way to take 20 wickets and hopefully score a few runs as well.”

Ryan ten Doeschate, India’s fielding coach, assured that the camp will not misread the conditions, like it did in Bengaluru last week. “I don’t think it was a massive miss. The conditions just caught us on the back foot a little,” Doeschate said. “You can be sure that the preparation and the assessment of the wicket is going to be as close to perfect as we can make it.”