When you lose a home series after twelve years, and your star-studded batting department looks hapless in familiar conditions, it’s only natural that you talk about the pitch.
Things are no different in India either. For a large part of the home season, there are debates over the nature of the surface and how they would play out going forward.
And this time around, the pitch debate has heated up further, following India’s abysmal performance against New Zealand, especially in Pune, where none of the batters - barring Yashasvi Jaiswal - play against New Zealand spinners in general and Mitchell Santner in particular on a rank-turner.
As the teams trained at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, there were talks that another rank-turner could be on offer, even though the curators kept the red soil surface covered for a large part of the day. India’s coaching staff, including assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, had a closer look at the surface.
“I wish we could curate pitches but we don’t. The curators do and whatever we are provided with, we go on and play whether that be a pitch that seams or turns,” Nayar said, keeping the suspense alive.
Traditionally, the Indian spinners have had success at Wankhede. Ravichandran Ashwin claimed 38 wickets in five matches, while Ravindra Jadeja bagged six wickets in the lone Test that he has played here.
READ | Assistant coach Nayar calls for patience with Rohit and Virat amidst spin concerns
New Zealand’s Ajaz Patel, who has his roots in Mumbai, made it clear that there will be turn ‘sooner or later’.
“Looking at the wicket and having played here before, you know that that red soil is going to offer you a bit more pace and a bit more bounce and it will definitely turn. It’s just a matter of when and it’s just kind of waiting and seeing how that kind of pans out, whether it turns early or whether it turns a bit later on in the game,” Patel said.
New Zealand also called up quite a few local spinners as net bowlers. “It’s just waiting and seeing but at the same time, it’s just being very, very clear on what your plans look like on that particular surface. We’re shaping up well and we’re preparing well so it’s just a matter of getting out there and putting our best foot forward again,” Patel said.
The last time New Zealand featured in a Test match at this iconic venue, Patel claimed a ten-for in a single innings even though his team went on to lose the game and the series. But this time around, irrespective of how the pitch plays out, the Mumbai-born spinner wants to make it a memorable outing.
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