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Batters might face tough conditions as the Supersport Park pitch at Centurion is anticipated to favor fast bowlers, with the threat of rain overshadowing the first Test between India and South Africa, according to curator Brian Bloy.
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Speaking on Saturday, the Centurion curator mentioned the likelihood of minimal play on the first day and a significant part of the second day due to heavy rain. He also noted that the drop in temperature resulting from the rainfall means that spinners are not expected to receive much assistance.
"Temperature will be super low, like 20 degrees. The temperature is now 34 and it will drop to 20. I don’t know what conditions will be like, whether we will get play on Day 1. Hopefully we will get some play and it will be cool on Day 3 and I don't know how much turn will be available," Bloy told PTI.
The first Test between Rohit Sharma's India and Temba Bavuma's South Africa is slated to commence from December 26.
Bloy said that the Centurion pitch will favour the pacers and batting won't be an easy task there.
"I can’t guarantee the forecast but if it remains under cover for the better part of the two days then that might be tricky to bat first, because its been covered for so long and hasn’t been rolled for so long, we don’t know how long we will have to get the field ready for play in current situation.
"So if it’s a Day-3, 10 am start, it doesn’t give us much time, because it’s in the morning and you start playing at 10 and really three hours of cool weather and early morning will be tricky. If its covered for two days, I would presume bowlers would benefit from it," he added.
For Bloy, the idea is to prepare a typical Centurion wicket.
"Our goal is to stick to the characteristics, not do anything different or out of the ordinary. I want it to be typical hard wicket as per Centurion’s conditions.
"The wicket is quite green and we have got two more days and its hot, with a bit more rolling, it would lose a bit more colour, but I am happy that there is a thin even coverage of grass. Looks good."
Yet, this scenario might be unfavorable for Ravichandran Ashwin, as Bloy is uncertain about the extent of advantage spinners can gain in the event of rain.
"That will be tricky, because you are seeing a forecast on Day 1 and Day 2. It looks awful. The sun is out for four days and so there will be some purchase for spinners, offer turn and bounce, with weather forecast, I don’t know how accurate it will be as there will be lot of rain."
What characterises a standard Centurion track? Usually, a Supersport Park wicket starts off slower and somewhat softer on Day 1, then gradually becomes quicker and exhibits more variable bounce as the match progresses.
"For me, fourth day afternoon finish would always be fantastic but that’s out of my control. We prepare the stage and players will have to come out and put the show,” Bloy further added.
Previously, there have been instances where the Indian team management was rumored to have meddled in the curator's responsibilities. However, Bloy, who originally worked as a golf course curator and studied turf management, has not encountered such issues.
"There is very little communication with the Proteas. You prepare as per characteristics of Supersport wicket and we know what to expect. I don’t get a lot of interference there and I think they just leave us to prepare good wicket,” he concluded.
Here's India's squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk)
(WITH PTI INPUTS)
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