Aussies ready to pitch up in Bangalore
Feb 27, 2017 - 5:57 AM India are caught between a rock and a hard place as they mull what sort of pitch to produce for the second Test, having been spun out on a raging turner in Pune.The Martian deck on which Steve O'Keefe claimed a stunning haul of 12-70, the best match figures by a visiting spinner in India, continues to prove a source of intrigue for Australia and indignant frustration for India.
Unsurprisingly, nobody wants to claim ownership for the pitch doctoring after the visitors took a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series.
Pune curator Pandurang Salgaonkar, a former fast bowler, has made it clear he was overruled in the lead-up by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
An Indian Express report claimed ground staff were ordered to remove the grass completely, water the pitch half as much as usual - and use metallic brushes to scuff up the surface.
It resulted in 40 wickets falling inside three days. For the first time since 1993, two Australian spinners claimed all 10 wickets to fall in a Test innings.
BCCI chief curator Daljit Singh is also expected to be on hand in Bangalore, which has traditionally been one of the nation's most batsman-friendly Test venues. It is also a ground where Australia boast an impressive record, having lost one of their five Tests there.
The expectation is Bangalore will be a flatter wicket. But if it is too flat, the top-ranked Test side may struggle to force a result.
The other possibility is Steve Smith's side will encounter - if not in Bangalore then in Ranchi or Dharamsala - a raging turner that will make batting even more difficult than it was in Pune.
"I've seen worse than this," said former India allrounder Sridharan Sriram, who is serving as Australia's spin coach on the tour.
"Bangalore is a good wicket ... Ranchi could be totally different.
"You prepare for the worst. Then if you get the best, you go for it.
"The preparation in Dubai was excellent. We prepared different tracks. We made a rough (pitch). We made rank turners. We made slow and low pitches.
"It was great preparation in terms of trying different surfaces and being prepared for whatever you get."
Sunil Gavaskar, Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh headline the former India players to have complained about the Pune pitch in recent days, with all three suggesting Bangalore should be a better wicket.
India coach Anil Kumble and captain Virat Kohli both played a flat bat during the Test when asked whether they had any influence over the preparation of the pitch.
"I didn't speak to anyone," Kohli said after his side's 20-Test undefeated run at home ended.
The BCCI were publicly rebuked by the International Cricket Council for Nagpur's spin-friendly pitch in a 2015 Test but have since produced far more batsman-friendly wickets, especially during England's recent visit.
Australia skipper Steve Smith suggested the hosts had "played into our hands" by preparing a dry deck that delivered Australia's first Test win in India since 2004.
Source: AAP
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