Ind vs Aus: What to expect from pitches of remaining 3 India vs Australia test matches: Australian legend Ricky Ponting predicted a day before the first test match that “Australia were in for a nightmare” on the Nagpur pitch against Ravindra Jadeja, and so was what we witnessed. Australia lost to India by a humiliating margin of an inning and 132 runs.
In the Border Gavaskar Trophy opener in Nagpur, spin was ruling, with spinners from both teams thriving on the dry surface. Ravindra Jadeja, a left-arm orthodox bowler, was awarded player of the match for his overall tally of 5-47, 2-34, and 70 runs with the bat in hand. While his partner Ravichandran Ashwin contributed 3-42 and 5-37 to seal the deal. Before that, Todd Murphy of Australia picked up 7 wickets in his debut innings.
The Indian skipper scored a commendable hundred in which, he punched the boundary 15 times with 2 sixes. Ravindra Jadeja scored 70 runs and Axar Patel also collected a good sum of 84 runs. All these innings reflect that of course surface was aiding spin but with good preparation and using perfect techniques to play spin, batting wasn’t too difficult there.
Now, What to expect from the pitches of Delhi, Indore, and Ahmedabad? Will the three remaining pitches help the spinners similarly as they did in the first test? Let’s go one by one:
Ind vs Aus 2nd Test: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Australia’s lone victory in Delhi came in 1959 when Richie Benaud’s team defeated the hosts by an inning and 127 runs, but the visitors have had no success thereafter. Nathon Lyon took 7-97 back in 2013 but of course, those figures were not in the winning cause.
With an average of 44 runs per wicket over the past ten years compared to their opponents’ 25 runs per wicket, India has better capitalized on Delhi’s history as a venue where batting sides usually gain profit during the first innings. India has gone unbeaten at the site since 1987, with 10 victories and two ties. In fact, it’s a good hunting ground for them.
Ind vs Aus 3rd Test: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore
The third Border Gavaskar Trophy Test match has been moved 1,200 kilometers south to Indore from Dharmsala, which was the initially scheduled venue at the foot of the Himalayas. Despite the small sample size, it is not surprising that India has dominated all of the cricket matches played at the Holkar Cricket Stadium so far.
India have played two test matches at this ground: one in 2016 against New Zealand, which India won by 321 runs, and the other in 2019 against Bangladesh, which India won by an inning and 130 runs. Virat Kohli scored 211 against the Kiwis, while Mayank Agarwal scored 243 against the Tigers.
Ravichandran Ashwin has found the circumstances to be significantly easier to overcome than anyone else, despite the fact that the raw stats for bowlers appear to be difficult. He recorded 6-81 and 7-59 against New Zealand, winning the player of the match award, and three years later, 2-43 and 3-42 against Bangladesh.
Ind vs Aus 4th Test: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
The Ahmedabad superstructure, which is named after India’s current prime minister, has so far served as the venue for only two Test matches. Both matches were played between India and England in 2021, and they were played back-to-back as Covid swept the globe.
India easily dominated in both matches, taking two days to finish off the first (a day-night match) and three days to close off the second. Surprisingly, of the 40 wickets England lost, 37 were taken by spinners, with Axar Patel taking an astounding 20 of them to cause the majority of the damage.
The current record attendance at the venue is 101,566 for the 2022 IPL Final, but if the series remains close going into the fourth and final Test in mid-March, that number might be lifted up.
So, the conclusion is all the grounds are somehow spin-friendly and one needs to be fully focussed and technically correct to perform their best. India played exceptionally well in Nagpur and it is very much possible that we would see more of such surfaces going forward in Ind vs Aus test series. It is a home series for India and they should use better of their home conditions.
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