A rank-turner or a strip with a tinge of green? Over the last couple of days, most cricket discussions would invariably begin with this question.
After India’s nine-wicket defeat in the third Test in Indore, followed by the ICC rating the surface as ‘poor’, there were discussions on what would India’s approach be ahead of the series-deciding fourth Test against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The fact that two strips were covered on Tuesday, only added to the speculations.
However, on the eve of the fourth and final Test, Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith cleared the air and said that of the four wickets they have seen so far, the one in Ahmedabad will potentially be the ‘flattest on Day One’.
The Australia captain had no hesitation in admitting that the surface will be a ‘little different’ from the ones that have been used so far in the series, and he had a mantra for his teammates - use the opportunity to put up bigger totals on this surface.
“Obviously, the scores haven’t been big throughout this whole series. India scored 400 in that first Test match (in Nagpur), and Rohit (Sharma) got 100, and that 400 proved to be way too many. This wicket may be a little bit different. I just had a look at it. Perhaps it may not spin as much from the first ball or the first day, but I do think it will spin as the game goes on,” Smith said on Wednesday. “So yeah, there might be opportunities for bigger totals on this wicket…”
“Looks like probably of the four wickets we’ve seen so far, potentially the flattest on day one. Having said that, I think it’s 38 degrees out there at the moment, it’s pretty hot. Looks like it’ll dry out as the day goes on…”
According to Smith, one of the ground staff members told him they would be watering the surface again. “We will wait and see, but in terms of the day before, it certainly looks like it’s likely to do less on day one than we’ve seen so far,” Smith said, making it clear that the team is ‘not fussed’ about the wicket.
“On these wickets that we are playing on, 70s and 80s are winning you games as we’ve seen. This one might be a little bit different, it might be that someone needs to make a bigger scorem and the par score might go from 200-250 to 450-500. I’m not sure, we’ll wait and see,” the captain said.
“It’s about playing what’s in front of you. But even quick-fire 30s can change momentum, as we saw from Shreyas Iyer in the second innings of the last game… Those little cameos can be important in low-scoring games…”
Australia comes into the game trailing 1-2 but hopes to keep the momentum going after dominating in Indore.
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