Pune: On the eve of the maiden Test match at the MCA Stadium in Pune, Australia captain Steven Smith dropped a bombshell indicating that the Pune track, will be a rank turner where the ball will spin from day one as he has not seen a wicket like this before.
Enough said, the game got over in less than 8 sessions, as Australia stunned India with an unknown quantity in Steve O’keefe-who took 12-70 in the match. In all, 31 out of 40 wickets were taken by the spinners on a track-that was reported as ‘poor’ by ICC match referee.
Cut to October 8 2019, two days after Indian thrashed South Africa in the first Test at Vizag, Indian bowling coach Bharan Arun fuelled more fire by saying visiting teams should learn to adapt to Indian conditions, just as India are expected to do on overseas tours.
“When we get seaming tracks abroad, we get to hear that ‘Oh, Indians should learn to play on seaming track’. Seaming tracks are considered to be good tracks, but whereas if there is a track that assists spin, you say ‘oh, how can you spin the ball on day 1,’ he had said.
On day 4, just after the tea interval-as victorious Indian team boarded the bus-a passing shower greeted them. With the convincing win over South Africa in the Pune Test as well, India pocketed the series 2-0 with one Test to play.
Nature of pitches
There’s one particular thing that stands out in Team India’s latest achievement, though, and that is the nature of the pitches on which the two matches against South Africa have been won.
In South Africa’s second innings on Sunday, Senuram Muthusamy was caught at second slip by Rohit Sharma after failing to defend a searing bouncer by Mohammed Shami. It was day four of the match, the ball was 45 overs old and yet, the catch was taken around chest height. This isn’t a common sight in India, not by any stretch.
The Pune pitch was, in fact, under intense scrutiny even before the first ball of the match was bowled. The last time India played a Test here, in 2017, they suffered a heavy defeat. The pitch was criticised severely at that time as the hosts got bowled out for 105 and 107. Of the 40 wickets that fell in that match, only nine were taken by fast bowlers.
Alarming stat
In the ongoing series, spinners have taken 24 wickets while pacers have gotten 16. In the ten home Test series prior to this one, spinners bagged 456 wickets while fast bowlers got 173.
Such was the quality of the pitch at the MCA Stadium this time around that it reminded former South African skipper Shaun Pollock of the ones he’s used to seeing back home, as he admitted while on air. Not just in Pune, the surface in the first Test in Visakhapatnam was impressive as well, with Shami getting a five-for in the final innings of the match.
It may be too early to tell, but this change in the nature of pitches in India could be deliberate. And if that is the case, Indian cricket is setting itself up to take things to the next level. Far too often in the past, there have been suspicions of Indian captains asking curators to prepare dust bowls for ‘home advantage’. That isn’t the case with the current team, though.
