By Andrew Wu
Nagpur: Curators at VCA Stadium cut a strange sight on Tuesday as they deployed bizarre methods to prepare a Test strip already sporting curious markings that will concern Australia’s left-hand dominated line-up.
Veteran David Warner was on all fours inspecting the bare patches just outside the off stump to a lefty that threaten to bring him and his fellow South Paws to their knees in the first Test against India.
David Warner and Steve Smith checking the pitch at Nagpur.Credit:Getty Images
It was the unusual events after the Australians had left the venue for a strategy meeting at their team hotel that explained how those blemishes came to be.
Watched closely by India team staff, including at times coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Rohit Sharma, ground staff selectively watered the pitch, creating a target for India’s spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel as they prey on Warner, Usman Khawaja and co.
In total, Australia could field as many as six lefties in their top eight, compared to India’s two. One player wryly suggested there would be more green if India were playing Bangladesh this week.
Some may accuse India of pitch doctoring, but curators are free to prepare a surface as they see fit until handing it over to the umpires for the game.
Using a misty spray from a contraption strapped to their back, ground staff first watered around a small rug the width of the stumps covering the protected zone, before applying rollers across the track.
Hours later, the centre of the pitch was sprayed up to a good length, along with the area outside the leg stump to the left-hander, but not the surface in line with the stumps and outside off. The centre was then rolled but only to a good length.
Theoretically, this should create potentially treacherous areas for left-handers that pose fewer problems to the right-hander.
“Pretty dry, particularly one end that I think will take a bit of spin, particularly to left-arm spinners spinning it back to our left-handers, there’s a section that’s dry,” Australia vice-captain Steve Smith said of the pitch before the curators resumed their work.
“I can’t get a good gauge on it. I don’t think there’ll be a heap of bounce in the wicket. For the seamers, it will be quite skiddy and maybe a bit of up-and-down movement as the game goes on. The cracks feel quite loose.”
The Australian camp would no doubt be aware of the curators’ procedure. Just how concerned they are by it will be apparent if Peter Handscomb pips the left-handed Matthew Renshaw for the No.6 spot vacated by the injured Cameron Green.
There is much intrigue over the pitches for the four Tests. One media report on the weekend quoted an anonymous source saying curators had been advised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to produce pitches for “good Test cricket” over five days.
Another report on Tuesday quoted a source in the India team saying they wanted to “maximise our advantage and prepare turners”, speculating on a four-pronged spin attack instead of three.
In the last first-class game played here three weeks ago, one side was rolled for 54 chasing 73, with a left-arm orthodox spinner taking nine wickets in the final innings.
The hot weather in Nagpur, compared to the cooler climes in Delhi and Dharamsala for the second and third Tests, gives India its best chance of using its spin strength to land an early blow.
Six years ago, the hosts’ insistence on extremely spin-friendly conditions backfired in Pune when Steve O’Keefe bamboozled the hosts with match figures of 12-70 in a famous victory on a rank turner rated “poor” by the International Cricket Council.
After a “below-average” pitch in Bengaluru, which provided variable bounce, the visitors were highly dubious of the track resembling rolled mud for the third Test, believing it to be tailor-made to blunt Australia’s quicks and dull Nathan Lyon’s effect.
On match eve, one senior player at the time labelled the surface as the most “ridiculous” deck he had seen, his faith undoubtedly not helped by local authorities attempting in vain to ban players from taking pictures and limiting pitch inspections to the captain and coach.
The game, though, went the distance and Smith acknowledged it had played well despite appearances.
Nagpur was slapped with a rating of “poor” in 2015 after a three-day Test where South Africa were bundled out for 79 in the first innings and spin claimed 33 of the 40 wickets.
Green was limited to bowling just a few light overs on a side pitch on the square and did not bat. It was the clearest indication yet that he may miss the start of the series as he recovers from a finger injury. With back-to-back Tests, it would not be a surprise if he is not seen until the second half of the campaign.
“I don’t think he’s even faced fast bowlers yet – I dare say he won’t be playing,” Smith said. “Unless he pulls up really well … it’s unlikely.”
Renshaw, the incumbent, is favoured to hold No.6 ahead of Handscomb, having been paired with No.5 Travis Head in centre-wicket match practice in Bangalore last week. Both men took part in close-catching drills for about an hour before hitting the nets.
Green’s likely absence rules out any chance of Australia loading up with three frontline tweakers. Ashton Agar is considered favourite to partner Nathan Lyon as the second spinner despite an underwhelming return to the baggy green in Sydney.
Uncapped off-spinner Todd Murphy has the superior recent first-class record, but the selection panel has tended to lean towards giving players one more chance.
