A hard surface with a lot of grass awaits India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), the venue for the third Test, curator Adam Lewis said on Wednesday.
"The weather was our main concern and just the talk about not getting the Sydney Test. We understand the amount of effort that goes into preparing a Test like [this], you got to understand, this is our grand final," Lewis said at a virtual press conference.
"This is our biggest stage of the year. Look to be awarded the Test by New South Wales government and Cricket Australia, we were foreseeing ahead. We just did our preparation around the weather and we think we have rolled up a really good wicket.
"The key is that every year, it is so different with the weather. So, we try to give them (the teams) that hard surface with a good amount of grass.
"Three years ago, we had England (here), we had late 30 degrees (celsius) days, hot-gusty winds, that is different to this year, when we had high humidity, rain (and) cover.
"We only saw the first bit of direct sunlight on the wicket only three days ago, so we are just doing the best we can with the elements that are dished out to us," he said.
Asked if the pandemic had a bearing on the pitch preparation, Lewis said: "It (COVID-19) did at the start when we were all new with the COVID-19 pandemic. We put teams in two different areas, we had two different locations.
"Now we seemed to have gotten through that and have just worked with our COVID policy. It all seems to be working well."
The four-Test series is tied at 1-1 with Australia winning the pink-ball opener in Adelaide while India emerged triumphant in Melbourne.
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