Expect a somewhat bouncy, red-soil surface and not a raging rank-turner is what we are hearing ahead of the opening Test between India and Bangladesh. The Indian camp, under head coach Gautam Gambhir, kicked off in Chennai, where the two Asian rivals will meet from September 19. The entire squad, along with the net bowlers, toiled hard on MA Chidambaram ‘B’ ground from 9:30 am to 3 pm IST on Friday.
Red-soil for IND vs BAN 1st Test?
It is a no secret that Bangladesh is a great side that usually do well in conditions that favour spin bowling. Hence, according to the IndianExpress, the Gautam Gambhir and Co. are planning to come up with a red-soil surface that won’t offer crazy amount of spin from Day 1. The red-soil surfaces usually allows pacers to extract extra bounce off the deck. It is similar to the more western area of the country, most famous at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The decks in southern part of India usually are made with black soil. However, fear of potential game-changing tweakers in Bangladesh team might have prompted India to look for a more competitive pitch.
Regardless, this will even prepare Team India for a packed red-ball season ahead. After the two Tests against Bangladesh, the team will host New Zealand for three games, followed by a much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under. The wickets in Australia will be more conducive for extra bounce and pace – something that is presently available off red-soil pitches.
IND batters prepare for Bangladesh spin threat
Shakib Al Hasan, Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz – the troika of Bangladesh’s spin attack. The three tweakers would be confident going into this series for two reasons. First, they recently upstaged Pakistan 2-0, that too, in their backyard. Second, India’s poor record against spin. It was during India’s very last series, that was against Sri Lanka, where the Indian batters completely faltered against the Lankan tweakers.
Although Rohit Sharma tackled it well, no Indian middle-order batter offered a great amount of application. While the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are enough to skittle any batting line-up, the turners can backfire against a somewhat ‘pace-likened’ Indian batting. This is another reason why preparing a red-soil surface isn’t a bad news to India!
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