Pitch battle: The twists and turns

Subhash Rajta

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Tribune News Service

Mohali, November 2

Virat Kohli got down quickly from the car and strode straightaway to the wicket. The rush the Indian Test skipper seemed in to have a look at the wicket was understandable — the hosts have already lost the T20 and the ODI series, and are obviously desperate to alter the result in the upcoming four-Test series, kicking off at Mohali from November 5. And favourable wickets (read generous turners or at least flat tracks shorn of pace and bounce) will be central to India’s turnaround plans.

So the urgency the skipper showed to reach the 22-yard patch was more or less expected; what was surprising, though, was the first thing he did on reaching the square — he bent down and touched the feet of Daljeet Singh, the curator, to seek his blessings. And lest one reads too much into it, it must be mentioned here that Singh knows Kohli from his junior days and the gesture was obviously out of respect and the long association. Yet, it seemed remarkable because of the ugly spat between India team director Ravi Shastri and the Mumbai curator after the final ODI between the two teams. Kohli spent about ten minutes with the curator before heading to the nets for a hit.

It would be interesting to know what the South Africans would have made of Kohli’s gesture. They are anyway convinced that India are trying to pressurise the curators into rolling out the wickets of their liking. Faf du Plessis, the South African batsman, didn’t mince words in expressing what he thought of India’s whining about wickets.

“They are probably putting pressure on the curators to get the wickets they want,” said du Plessis. “They wouldn’t have been complaining had they been winning. They are doing this just to take their mind off from the losses they have suffered,” said the generally genial batsman.

Even as he took potshots at the hosts, the South African sounded pretty sure about what was coming their way in the Tests. “The wicket looks pretty dry at the moment, but there are still a couple of days to go for the game. Anyway, we know the slower the wicket, the more they will be in the game,” he said.

The South Africans have apparently got their assessment of the wicket right. Given the far superior South African pace attack, India can’t roll out the normal Mohali wicket having adequate pace and bounce. Even though the people concerned would talk of preparing a sporting wicket, it’s almost certain that a wicket offering generous turn would be rolled out for the first Test.

The question is, is it possible to mould the Mohali wicket, considered one of the quickest in India, into a turner. A quick look at the Test held here against Australia in March 2013 reveals that it’s possible for the spinners to call the shots at this wicket. In that match which India won by six wickets, India fielded three spinners and they took 14 wickets between them. More recently, during a Ranji Trophy match here between Punjab and Railways a month back, Punjab left-arm spinner Varun Khanna picked up eight wickets in the second innings. “It’s not that we can’t have a spinning track here; in fact in the last couple of years spinners have been taking a lot of wickets here in domestic cricket,” said one of the local coaches.

Riding high on the success achieved so far, the South Africans seem prepared to handle anything India throw at them. “We know wickets are going to spin, but we are prepared. We will try to be attacking, wait for our opportunity and shift the momentum in our favour,” said du Plessis.

The weather, which is getting colder by the day, could slightly change the almost set script for the Test. “The early morning moisture and lower temperature could open up a window of opportunity for the pacers,” said the coach.

Given the quality in the South African pace department, this small passage of play could be all they need to wreck the hosts.