Exclusive | Dry, Drier, Driest: How Team India Chose The Indore Test Pitch

It was a dull Sunday afternoon in Indore on February 26 when the team India assembled for their first practice session at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. Captain Rohit Sharma skipped the session and coach Rahul Dravid was in full command of the proceedings. Before he could turn his attention to the nets, Dravid was stationed near the pitch square with a team of ground staff and inspected the pitches on the square, and in particular a strip that was being used for this fixture.

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Engrossed in the discussion, the former India captain instructed the curators to sprinkle water evenly. Yes, equally is the key word here. A light roller was applied followed by a shower of water and the drill continued for a good thirty minutes before the lid was fitted. The whole bar baked in the sun, under cover, before security closed in on the evening hours for another round of sprinkling and roller. And Dravid was still around.

The pitch being used for the third India-Australia Test had some grass in the middle but as days went by, it was trimmed and one gets the impression that the only purpose of having it there was to avoid the initial crumbling that would have happened. hours under the sun. both covered and open.

With every ray of light falling on the surface it drier and the pitch looked completely different on the eve of the match than it did on Sunday. The freshness evaporated and a distinctively subtly brown took center stage. The little patches of grass that had excited the visiting media crew disappeared and a rank-turner was waiting to be produced.

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In these three days, Dravid was observed near the 22 yards and made regular inspections when he was in the field. The low bounce, which became a talking point after India’s defeat on the first day, was a concern even a few days back when the groundstaff conducted the bounce test on Monday evening. He watered the area liberally at that time and turned on the roller but the signs of things to come were clear that evening.

Talking to people related to the development, it has been learned that three strips were offered to the hosts to choose from. One strip was right next to the present and was more along the lines of Nagpur, with selected areas being drier than the rest. The second was towards the Sunil Gavaskar stand and was a proper “patta”.

“Three strips were offered and the one you see in the corner was a proper ‘strip’. Good for batting initially but the team didn’t choose it. Another comparatively less dry pitch next to the existing pitch I mean it was dry but not par. Same as Nagpur,” says an official close to the development.

India picked the driest terrain and then further treatment was done over the last three days where it turned from fresh to brown in no time and became the low rank-turner we are seeing.

Unlike Nagpur, there was not a single instance where the strip was sprayed with water unevenly and all efforts were directed towards making it a very dry and turning pitch.

,Ye wala dry tha but aur dry hua last 2-3 din mai. Pura ekdum rank-turner types. Wo patta pe khelte to run bhi bante aur turn bhi hota (It was a dry track and had dried up over the past few days – a complete rank-turner. Had they gone for the second strip, both would have run and turned), says the official.

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