BCCI curator Kasturi Sriram on Monday said that the 22-yard strip to be offered for the second Test between India and England “won’t have much grass”. Turn would be on offer from as soon as the second day, he added.
“There will not be much grass and we should expect the ball to turn from lunch on Day 2,” Sriram said, stating that there had been no instruction from the team management. “Yesterday, it was cold and today it’s drastically hot and humid, and [the] wicket appears dry now. We will see how it is on the eve of the match,” Sriram added.
The revelation comes just a day after India eked out a hard-fought draw against England. Skipper Virat Kohli had made his displeasure clear soon after the game, criticising the presence of grass on the wicket. “I was quite surprised to see that much grass, to be honest,” the 28-year-old Kohli said. “It should not have been the case.”
Sriram’s claims, though, will come as music for India, whose spinners struggled to find much help from the wicket at Rajkot. Ravichandran Ashwin in particular proved ineffective through the game, with little assistance available from the pitch.
Like Rajkot, Vizag too is hosting its maiden Test match. In October, the venue saw India face New Zealand in the fifth one-dayer. The game was played on a slow turner where the Kiwis were bowled out for a paltry 79.
Speaking about the wicket, Andhra Cricket Association Secretary Gokaraju Gangaraju adopted a diplomatic approach. “We have prepared a neutral wicket and it should assist both the teams equally. We hope to see a result,” Gangaraju told PTI. ”The wicket had a bit of moisture during the India-New Zealand match. But it was their inept batting that led to the collapse,” he added.
Earlier this year, the Vizag wicket had seen Rajasthan skittle Assam for 69 in the second innings of their Ranji Trophy match. The match ended within three days, with their coach Sunil Joshi, a former India left-arm spinner, criticising the wicket.