Subhayan Chakraborty in Pune
After New Zealand shocked India in Bengaluru to take a 1-0 lead, the hosts are looking to make a comeback in the three-Test series. India haven’t lost a home series since 2012, and to avoid a slip-up, they will have to bounce back in Pune.
Against this backdrop, the pitch preparation at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium has caught attention. It’s a black soil pitch, but what makes the build-up interesting is how senior curators Tapas Chatterjee and Ashish Bhowmick have been overseeing the preparation of the match strip.
On Tuesday morning, two days before the Pune Test, the pitch was under flax covers — a couple of layers, in fact. As New Zealand trained from 9:30 am onwards, the ground staff slowly removed one layer, keeping a single cover on the pitch. However, as the Indian coaching staff, led by Gautam Gambhir, along with captain Rohit Sharma and veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, inspected the pitch closely, the covers were temporarily removed. The pitch soaked up the intense Pune sun as the mower trimmed the remaining grass. Post-trimming, the groundsmen brought back the covers but only over the good length and slightly short of good length areas in the middle of the pitch, leaving the fuller lengths, where spinners generally pitch the ball, exposed to the heat. This set-up remained for a couple of hours. During another pitch inspection by Rohit and Gambhir, the ground staff selectively watered the uncovered fuller length areas at both ends.
Meanwhile, four members of the ground staff were seen using a brush to remove dust and scuff up the pitch, clearly indicating that the Test will be dominated by spinners, especially after the Indian trio of Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja were mostly ineffective in Bengaluru.
Interestingly, Washington Sundar has been added to the Indian squad for the remainder of the series, suggesting that the hosts might opt for four spinners if necessary. However, the carefully curated Pune pitch is expected to greatly assist the spinners as the game progresses. This makes winning the toss crucial, as the team batting first will have the best opportunity to score heavily in the first innings. Batting will become progressively tougher from the second innings onwards, and spinners are likely to play a big role.
Notably, New Zealand also boast spinners like Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Michael Bracewell, and Mitchell Santner, who could pose significant challenges to the Indian batters.
🚨🚨#RishabhPant bats and keeps without any visible discomfort while #ShubmanGill had two sessions at the nets. The pitch is being carefully curated for the second Test and will assist spinners.@CricSubhayan reports from Pune.@ThumsUpOfficial #INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/YwWkVViW1c
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) October 22, 2024
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