The mind games with the pitch for the fourth Test at Ahmedabad are well and truly underway after the Indore surface blew up in India’s face last week but the Australians are not getting caught up with speculation about the surface.
Assistant coach Dan Vettori actually made the surprising admission that he doesn’t mind the pitches that have been dished up for the series even though all three matches have ended inside three days due to the bowler-friendly conditions.
After home captain Rohit Sharma floating the idea that a green seamer could be prepared for the series finale, the Australians will get their first look at the centre wicket on Tuesday after flying from Indore on Monday following their stunning nine-wicket win in the third Test to salvage hope of drawing the series even though the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has already been retained by India.
The pitch at the 132,000-seat capacity Narendra Modi Stadium for Thursday’s clash is likely to favour batters much more than the Indore strip which received a rare poor rating from match referee Chris Broad.
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However, the two most recent Tests at this ground against England two years ago during the pandemic ended inside three days with the first one – a day-nighter – over just after the fifth session in the the shortest completed Test since 1935.
Matthew Kuhnemann celebrates taking the wicket of Umesh Yadav. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Vettori, who toured India several times during his playing career with New Zealand, said many members of the Aussie team had asked him if he had come across the kind of wickets that have been prepared for this series.
“That’s been a question a lot of the guys have asked – if I’d played on these sorts of wickets and I just haven’t,” he said. “They were always just a war of attrition, the wickets that I played on. India would win the toss and get 600. You can get 400 and then hang on for dear life in the last couple of days. That’s normally how it played out. It was a real grind. It was day five and the result was still in the balance.
“But now the game’s in fast-forward in a lot of ways.
“My memories (of Ahmedabad) are of an incredibly flat surface. I’m not sure we’ll get that but those were the old wickets – lots of runs and hanging on for dear life on day five.”
Vettori actually said that the pitches in this series had been made to look more venomous than they are because of the skill of Indian spin maestros Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.
“I think the thing that I suppose embellishes it all is Ashwin and Jadeja. They’re so good that they revel in these conditions and they make it look as hard as it possibly can in Test cricket. The challenge has always been for the overseas spinners to come in and match them and I think that’s what we’ve been able to do in this series that our spinners have been on even footing.
“And you probably couldn’t say that in some previous series other teams, not necessarily Australian teams. So I think that’s been what’s made it an even contest.
“I don’t mind the surfaces because it’s the same for everyone. It doesn’t feel like the toss is the key ingredient as has been seen by three teams winning against it and you almost know what you expect to turn up. You can see that it’s going to be this type of workout and you can prepare for it. I think that allows some skill to still come into it, some perseverance and some fortitude around the things that you have to do.
“I think the batting group, hearing them talk, has started to buy into that as well. Like a 30 could be a great day. It’s how you get that 30 that makes such a difference. So the challenges and accepting it more than anything – that’s easier said than done.”
Regular skipper Pat Cummins has told the team he will not be returning for the match as he will be staying in Sydney to be with his gravely ill mother.
For the first time in the series, the Australians are likely to retain the same XI after Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green made successful returns from finger injuries in the Indore victory, complementing the spin trio of Nathan Lyon, Matt Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy.
Vettori defended the decision to pick Ashton Agar for this tour even though he was overlooked for the first two Tests before the left-arm spinner was sent home after being considered surplus to requirements.
“Ashton played that last Test and Sydney and expectations were (to play) here but I just think that the nature of the surface over here and I’ve been speaking to Andrew (McDonald) that the control that Murph was able to offer was appealing,” he said.
Travis Head bats during day three at Holkare Cricket Stadium. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
“I think it just lends itself to those two offies being ahead of Ash for the first Test and then they performed so well that it was hard to hard to turn your back on them after that.”
Vettori added that it can be hard in the modern era of almost constant touring for fringe players to be both on deck for tours to be ready for their chance and also playing enough at domestic level to be in form for when that opportunity comes along.
“I think the guys who are perennial tourists or second spinners or fourth seamers in a group that they’re valuable to the group but they don’t actually get that game time,” he said.
“Looking at someone like Scott Boland who’s been able to come in and out of the team at times and perform and you’re only impressed by that but it is a tricky thing.
“I think guys sometimes get a little bit less behind because they’re important to the squad but they can’t get a game but you don’t want to send them home. It’s just a really hard juggling act.”
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