India were helpless with the bat on Day 2 of the IND vs ENG Ranchi Test. But the only thing that remained a mystery was the pitch of Ranchi. Though it had cracks and favoured spin, the ball however didn’t turn a lot. Indian bowling coach Paras Mhambrey claimed that they didn’t expect the pitch to showcase variable bounce.
England finished their innings on 353 early on Day 2. India however, weren’t successful with the bat. The hosts ended Day 2 with a score of 219/7 with proper batter remaining, save Dhruv Jurel. While both Jadeja and Shoaib Bashir bagged four-fers, Mhambrey was left puzzled by the variable bounce of the pitch.
“I don’t think this is a turner, it has variable bounce on lower side. There was no instruction from management to ask for a turner. That’s how nature of soil here has been. It has always been on slow side. No ball has spun sharply yet, so wouldn’t call it turner,” said the Indian batting coach at the post day press conference.
The pitch remained on the lower side. The balls kept remaining low as Ben Foakes failed to collect quite a few deliveries which ran off to the fence. While the pitch mystery continues regarding the Ranchi surface, India will hope to close down as much runs as they can, before aiming to bowl out the visitors for a low score.
“We didn’t expect the pitch to play that low on second day. It was expected to play slower but we weren’t expecting variable bounce,” Paras Mhambrey concluded.