A seam-friendly pitch in Bengaluru backfired on India last year, but injuries to West Indies’ frontline quicks may contribute to a substantial covering of grass on the Ahmedabad surface
Karthik Krishnaswamy and Nagraj Gollapudi30-Sep-20252:10
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India could play the first Test of their two-match series against West Indies on one of the greenest home pitches of recent seasons. Two days out from the first Test in Ahmedabad, the pitch had a lush, even covering of grass, and while some of it may get trimmed by the time the match begins, ESPNcricinfo understands 4-5mm could still remain.The primary reason for this grass cover is the composition of the soil. The square at the Narendra Modi Stadium has both red- and black-soil pitches. The pitch for this Test match is a red-soil strip. Red-soil pitches tend to offer excellent bounce and carry when held together by grass. Without this binding, however, they have the tendency to crumble rapidly into dustbowls – the pitch India played New Zealand on in Mumbai last year, where spinners took 34 of the 38 wickets that fell to bowlers, is the most recent example of this phenomenon.Another reason for the pitch looking as green as it did on Tuesday is the rainy weather Ahmedabad has experienced in the last few days, with the pitch under covers through most of Sunday and Monday. It was mostly clear on Tuesday, though, allowing both West Indies and India to train without interruption. There is rain forecast on day one of the Test, but the weather is expected to clear thereafter.Related
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In recent years, India have tended to play their home Tests on square turners in the pursuit of World Test Championship (WTC) points, with wins (12 points) worth three times as much as draws (four points). But these sharply turning pitches run the risk of narrowing the gap between India’s spin attack – which has been the best in the world for over a decade – and that of the visiting team. This was one of the factors that contributed to New Zealand’s unexpected and unprecedented 3-0 whitewash of India in India last year.India are looking to avoid any repeat of this, against a West Indies team that won a Test match against Pakistan on a square turner in Multan in January.No choice is without trade-offs, though, and seaming conditions weaponise both teams’ pace attacks. Last year’s series against New Zealand began in seam-friendly conditions in Bengaluru, where India were bowled out for 46 after choosing to bat first – their then captain Rohit Sharma later suggested he may have misread the conditions.If West Indies had their original squad to choose from, they could have picked the potent pace trio of Jayden Seales, Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph and gone toe-to-toe with India. They have, however, lost both Josephs to injury in the lead-up to the first Test. This leaves them with substantially depleted pace resources, with Seales and the allrounder Justin Greaves joined by Anderson Phillip – who has a bowling average of 72.50 after three Tests – and the uncapped pair of Johann Layne and Jediah Blades.India were bowled out for 46 in the first innings of the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru last year•BCCIThe weakening of West Indies’ seam attack may well contribute to more grass being left on the surface than it otherwise may have been. India will also be looking to put the visitors’ batting under pressure: West Indies were bowled out for 27 by Australia’s four-man seam attack in their most recent Test match, a day-night game in Jamaica.Apart from Bengaluru last year, the last time India played a home Test in genuinely seaming conditions was in Kolkata in 2017, when fast bowlers took 32 of the 35 wickets that fell during a tense, rain-affected draw against Sri Lanka. That pitch was partly the outcome of weather, and partly India’s wish to have their fast bowlers play on helpful pitches in the lead-up to a tour of South Africa in early 2018.Motera has a surprisingly rich history of pace-dominated Test matches. In the very first Test at the venue, in 1983, the quicks took 34 out of 38 bowlers’ wickets (including a nine-wicket haul for Kapil Dev in the third innings) as West Indies beat India by 138 runs. Wisden’s description of the conditions makes for interesting reading: “a lot of grass had been left on the hurriedly prepared pitch in the vain hope of holding it together”. Vain hope, indeed, because it quickly disintegrated into a surface offering deadly uneven bounce.9:01
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In 1996, Javagal Srinath took a match-winning fourth-innings six-for against South Africa on another uneven pitch, though this was a dry, underprepared surface equally conducive to spin.South Africa were the visitors once more in 2008, and this time the conditions worked in their favour. As Wisden put it: “A hot summer in Ahmedabad meant that grass had to be left on the pitch to bind the surface; the curator, former Test cricketer Dhiraj Parsana, insisted he could not remove it without taking the top off. He held his ground, and India won a toss they might have been better off losing. They chose to bat.”Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and Morne Morkel ran through India, who were bowled out for 76 in just 20 overs. South Africa went on to win by an innings.Another Motera Test, another green or greenish surface. What kind of storyline will it bring us this time?