India ordered a turner in Pune and it spectacularly backfired. What does Bengaluru have in store?

It is quite natural that the entire cricketing world is gazing upon the 22-yard strip at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, the venue of the second Test between India and Australia. While the nature of the pitch has always been one of the most talked over cricketing topics, this time the interest is accentuated.

It is purely because of that extraordinary result in Pune last week. A massive 333-run defeat at the hands of the Antipodeans has ensured that the pitch’s behaviour pattern will remain a lively debate point throughout this series. Not just the nature of the pitch then, but the hosts’ propensity to ask for tailor-made trampolines too will be discussed threadbare.

So what kind of pitch will be on offer in Bengaluru? A bone dry, rank turner? A grassy square? A shirtfront? Or a sporting one that offers no palpable advantage to anyone? We will have to keep guessing about the precise quality of the surface.

Do more surprises await in Bengaluru?

But the Indian camp too will be in some confusion. In Pune, the expected script line was something like this. Indian batsmen make truckload of runs and then Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja run through the Australian line-up and eventually a familiar, easy Indian victory. However, Steve Smith’s men were not aware of the theme and they played out their own version.

With their trusted option of a spin-friendly pitch did not working in their favour in Pune, the Indian camp will be doing all the thinking about the nature of the pitch. The Aussies will not mind that one bit. If the Karnataka State Cricket Association officials’ words are to be believed, then the second Test, beginning on March 3, will see a sporting wicket being rolled out. “We want the Test match to last five days, a good one for both the teams and fans. There will be turn for spinners, good carry for quicker bowlers and, if apply themselves, batsmen can make some runs too. K Sriram is an experienced curator and he is working hard to prepare a sporting track,” said K Sudhakar Rao, interim secretary of the KSCA.

Weather factor

Summer may be still a couple of months way. But the barometer has already touched mid 30 degrees Celsius in the Garden City. The extreme weather may suck the moisture out of the pitch, resulting in its quicker disintegration. But the officials said they had watered the pitch sufficiently to prevent it from breaking down.

Then Bengaluru weather is notoriously fickle, especially so when the city stages a cricket match. The Test match between India and South Africa had lost four out of five days in 2015 November due to rain, inclement weather and wet outfield.

But now the KSCA can bank on a cutting edge technology to battle against wet outfield – a perennial spoilsport. The association has put in place a subsurface aeration system aimed at starting/resuming play within minutes after rain relents. It is basically a mechanism powered by a 200 horsepower motor that can suck the water out of the field. In order to ensure that the water is flushed out completely, the drainage system in the field too was relaid. A new sand base was laid at the expense of the old red soil which was in place from 1968.

“These are world class arrangements. But at the end of the day, everything boils down to the pitch preparation. Bangalore has always given some good cricketing pitches where matches lasted the full length of a Test match. Hope this time too the history will repeat,” said a former curator.

But history has not always been kind to India at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. In the 21 Tests that held here since 1974, India have won six and lost as many and drawn nine. From Australia’s perspective, they have won two Tests, lost one and drawn two. The last time India and Australia played against each other in 2010, the hosts under MS Dhoni outclassed the visitors by seven wickets.

However, overall, the stadium has offered some well contested full five-day Test matches. The only exception is the Test against New Zealand in 1995. India won inside three days by eight wickets as Anil Kumble grabbed nine wickets in that match.

The leg-spinner will be there this time too as the coach of this Indian side. Will the Chinnaswamy pitch be kind to them?