With India not ready to give any advantage to Bangladesh – who have three quality spinners in their ranks – it has been a challenging few days for the groundstaff at the MA Chidambaram Stadium to handle the red-soil surface in sweltering Chennai heat.
Two questions raise: Why did they have the red soil that abets bounce and what did they do to mitigate Bangladesh’s spinners, considering when India arrived here last Thursday for the prepatory camp, the pitch No 4 to be used for the Test had a thick grass cover that it was almost impossible to separate it from the outfield?
The red soil because The Indian Express understands that the India team management has preferred a bouncy track for the Test with an eye on the Australia tour. Out of the five home Tests lined-up, they are set to play three on red soil pitches in Chennai, Pune and Mumbai as it generally tends to aid good bounce.
Intensity 🔛 point 😎🏃♂️
Fielding Coach T Dilip sums up #TeamIndia‘s competitive fielding drill 👌👌 – By @RajalArora #INDvBAN | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/eKZEzDhj9A
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 16, 2024
Here is how the second question of not handing spin advantage to Bangladesh was answered by the curator C Ramesh Kumar and his staff over the last couple of days: Some good-old shaving of the grass, with a bit of help from hessian cloth and tarpaulin covers.
Even on Wednesday morning, there was a bit of grass cover on the pitch, but it was shaved off by afternoon before the groundstaff covered it with a hessian cloth. Using hessian cloth is generally done to avoid sweating on the pitch; the groundstaff have had to keep an eye on the rising mercury levels as well. Over the past four days, the temperature has flirted in the high 30s, a record-high for September.
With such heat around, the groundstaff also have to be wary of the pitch crumbling as it would bring spinners into play too early into the Test. As a result they have watered the pitch at least thrice between 9 am to 5 pm. While it is expected to hold the pitch firm, it is also expected to keep the bounce factor intact.
On Tuesday, they even used the tarpaulin covers on top of the hessian cloth right through the afternoon before opening it only when the shadows covered the playing surface. It was done to ensure excessive sweating on the pitch.
Preps in full swing here in Chennai! 🙌
Inching closer to the #INDvBAN Test opener ⏳#TeamIndia | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/F9Dcq0AyHi
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 14, 2024
On the eve of the Test, the pitch had a tinge of grass, but whether it remains on the morning of the Test is the big question now.
With the temperatures hotter than usual in the month of September, the groundstaff have been taking extra care of the surface. Though the grass was shaved off by the time India’s camp ended on Saturday, it has been watered regularly since then, and rolled several times to kill the live grass.
Ahead of the Test, India almost used a similar pitch for their practice sessions, which had purchase for everyone with hardly any footmarks. They even watered it regularly to keep it as intact as possible, which hints at what they expect over the course of the Test.
Spin combo
During Rahul Dravid’s tenure one of the most constant images revolved around his regular visits to the centre of the square. But his successor Gautam Gambhir only had a customary look before having a short conversation with the curators.
Although India fielded three pacers when they last hosted Bangladesh at home, they look set to stick to their usual template of playing three spinners here. It means R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja are certain starters and so is Kuldeep Yadav, who had an outstanding series against England earlier this year.
With the three spinners locked, the only debate surrounds the pace pack. The question that the team management faces now is whether to play both Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj here or to rest the latter. With an eye on the Australia trip and the short turnover between matches against Bangladesh and New Zealand at home, India are keen on rotating their pace pack. With Akash Deep in the mix, India want him to partner one of the senior pacers who would get adequate recovery time.
But having had a month-long rest, there are no workload concerns as of now. In the net session, both Siraj and Akash had extended batting sessions, but on the bowling front, it was the latter who did most of the work at the nets to possibly ensure Siraj stays fresh for the game. In that scenario there is a strong case for Siraj to start here alongside Bumrah.
The batting line-up is locked with KL Rahul set to take his spot back from Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant coming in place of Dhruv Jurel.
