The Nagpur pitch has become the hottest topic in world cricket right now. The Australians who emerged victoriously the last time they played a Test match on the rank turner inspected the pitch and were surprised by what the curator is doing. On both sides of the wicket, the length area of left-hander’s side has been kept dry whereas the centre of the pitch was watered. In addition, the roller was used on entire surface sans the area left dry for left-handers.
Weakness in numbers
Australia, who are likely to have as many as five left-handed batters – David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Alex Carey and Ashton Agar -- in their lineup will be troubled by the dry nature of the pitch. Spin is likely to play a major role from Day 1 of the Test as wear and tear on the dry part of the surface will be more compared to the rest.
It is a no-brainer that the captain winning the toss will bat first on February 9 morning. While Australian media are criticising the pitch curator Abhijit Piprode by terming the method as “doctoring”, India will have at least two left-handed batters in their lineup as well. Australia's ace off-spinner Nathan Lyon will look to utilise the dry trap curators have laid for Australian left-handers.
There have been rumours that India will play with four spinners at Nagpur, something they did against England in 2015. In the same year, India played three spinners in a four-man attack against South Africa. In that Test, Ravichandran Ashwin took as many as nine wickets.
Left-handers’ Kryptonite
Ashwin will be a touch challenge for Australia given the nature of the pitch, especially against left-handers. The right-arm onorthodox spinner is the only bowler in Test cricket to take more than 200 wickets against left-handed batters, even ahead of legendary Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.
India’s shrewd tactician who is also called as the cricket scientist will look to capitalise on Australian batters’ fear of the pitch. It will not be a surprise if Ashwin opens the bowling against Warner who has not had much Test success in India with 388 runs from 16 innings at an average of 24.24 including three half-centuries.
India’s record at Nagpur
India have played a total of six Tests at the venue out of which four went their way. India's only loss at the venue came against South Africa in 2010. Two years later, India and England played a draw in a dull affair.
