After almost following the game for two decades now, all around the world from the other side of ground on most occasions, it is not a hard fact to say that Test matches is actually the most testing format of this unbelievable sport. Given that most of the games are also played in a bilateral fashion and in one particular country between the two teams, it is pretty evident from the outset that the home team will have a slightly better advantage than the visiting team. The visiting team needs to put in more efforts in putting up with conditions which are foreign to them. That is indeed the first test in this format. Over the last two decades now, statistics clearly favor the home team to grab any particular game or a series. Although there have been occasional blemishes between certain teams which is actually good for the variety and competition in the sport. One of the biggest challenges for any visiting team to adapt to is the pitch. The weather being the next big factor along with the time of the year it is being played. The pitch is something that directly affects the team’s performance and what’s funny is it could effect either or both the teams.
In the SENA countries, pitches are usually more bouncier, has a lot more carry, is harder below the surface; somethings which are a little on the lower side in the typical subcontinent pitches. Following Indian cricket closely and understanding how pitches could actually affect the performances, I will deal with some occasions specifically. Among the SENA countries, the best of the pitches favoring the batsmen are specially available all over Australia in my observation. Australian pitches really produce high scoring games, and on most occasions teams with good batsmen, like India, South Africa, Australia, England and Pakistan (occasionally) have regularly produced high scoring games. New Zealand and South Africa probably produce the most sporting pitches. Moderate scores by teams batting first between 350-375 in first innings of the test match sometime becomes invincible. The other factors of the pitch slowly assisting spin and cracking up are all factored in as time progresses. More than the actual pitch which are pretty much conducive to batting, weather plays a more predominant role in England. Fast changing weather conditions, rain and poor light conditions sometimes actually makes the life of the batsmen more difficult than the pitch. One common factor among all these countries and the different venues is no pitch is expected to turn from the first session in Day 1. This is only possible in subcontinent pitches.
Also on the other hand, a good pitch is often defined in terms of runs scored which in my observation slightly tilts the argument more in favor of the batsmen. On the contrary, a venue that consistently produces results after reasonable test of the players should be termed as a good pitch. In recent times, Bangladesh has produced such pitches which were basically prepared to give clear advantage to the home team, something that could even be observed in their team composition. Going ahead with 3 spinners and a lone pacer in the bowling department certainly skews the match outcomes. But what happens when the visiting team actually is better prepared to handle such situations? It is already presumed that most of the teams visiting the subcontinent will not be able to put up with such challenging pitches which tests just one set of skills for visiting batsmen. In recent times, West Indies stunned Bangladesh twice in two consecutive test matches, once by pulling the highest run chase in Asia (395/7) courtesy a 4th innings double century by a debutant. Similar stunts have been pulled by England when they defeated Sri Lanka in the recently concluded test series between them where England defeated them 2-0 and also back in 2018 (3-0); Root just made merry all around the park with occasional scores from their relatively inexperienced batting line up. This also raises the questions about the quality of players that any team is producing and in this sector, Sri Lanka have been found wanting for quite some time now and also Bangladesh. Similar stunts have been pulled by England when they defeated India (2-1) back in 2012-13. And it was purely because England was the better team producing consistently good cricket. It wasn’t because India went in with a second string team.
It is often condescending on the pundits part or the players to directly imply that the pitch is unplayable or assists too much to one particular set of bowlers troubling the batsmen. I guess this is also one of the reasons why foreign nations have emphasized much on developing quality spin bowlers in their own country; much like India specially have tried grooming much more fast bowlers for foreign conditions. It is always good to see that players commenting on their own shortcomings in failing to adapt to the conditions rather than just blaming it on the ever-wearing pitch. I am sure any cricket follower would realize that India had won in Perth in 2008, after that scandalous Sydney Test match. A pitch that wasn’t at all prepared for them to win. On a similar note, India did win, back in Lords in 2014 where they defeated England on a pitch that had 3mm of grass covering as Michael Vaughn pointed out. Similar show was produced in Johannesburg in 2018 and on all the above mentioned conditions India had stood up against all odds to win in conditions which were prepared to deliberately makes their lives hell. The recent tours to Australia and also to West Indies in 2019 (2-0) are also examples to show how Indians have gotten better at slightly being more adaptable to foreign conditions, bringing the suitable squad to counter the conditions and players who can stand up to difficult situations. India has also lost to Australia in 2017 in that treacherous pitch in Pune going down 1-0 to win the series 2-1. It is just that India didn’t play good enough cricket to win it. Similarly, as the great Shane Warne had mentioned and also to an extent silenced Vaughn and the other English pundits that England failed to bowl as good as they could have in the first innings and in turn gave India a solid platform to score big. Also Indian spinners bowled and batsmen batted better than their English counterparts. Given that Root is an absolute gentleman, I am sure the discussion around the dressing would be how their batsmen could be more strong against Indian spinners. It is true that Ahmadabad will be absolutely different than Chennai and that stadium will once bring all the life back to test cricket with capacity crowd and the ever surprising Pink Ball.
Just not the regular Guy! 