After enduring a terrible time in the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens, India’s spin duo – Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja might heave a sigh of relief, as the pitch for the upcoming second Test in Nagpur will reportedly assist spinners.
According to DNA, the Vidarbha Cricket Association pitch already has some prominent cracks on it. However, the surface would not provide too much assistance to the spinners from the very first day unlike the match against South Africa in 2015 which ended inside three days, and the pitch was rated ‘poor’ by the International Cricket Council referee Jeff Crowe.
Ashwin and Jadeja will much welcome the news after the forgettable outing on the pacer-friendly Eden Gardens track. Such was their misery in the game that they ended up making a dubious record. It was the first time in 262 Tests at home that no Indian spinner could take a wicket in a Test.
Ashwin had bowled just eight overs in the first innings without taking a wicket while he was not given a single over in the second innings. On the other hand, Ravindra Jadeja bowled just one over in the first and one in second.
On the contrary, the Indian pacers, as well as their Sr Lanka counterparts, had made merry on the pitch. Bhuvneshwar Kumar had picked up eight wickets while Mohammed Shami had accounted for six players, as the game ended in a thrilling draw.
Meanwhile, the latest report is contradictory to a recent media report that suggested the pitches for the remaining two Tests of the ongoing series would be pacer friendly. ESPNcricinfo had reported during the Australia ODI series in September; the Indian team management had told the authorities to prepare such kind of pitches for the Sri Lanka Tests which would help Virat Kohli & Co. to prepare them for the South Africa tour.
The report had claimed head coach Ravi Shastri had mentioned the pitches ought to be “lively green tops”, which are “hard and bouncy”.
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