India might have lost the Pune Test on a turning surface, their batsmen might have struggled against overseas spinners of late, but the team management has requested the Mumbai Cricket Association for a “rank turner” for the the third and final Test that begins from Friday. “It will be rank turner pitch. The team management has requested to prepare a pitch which can help spinners from day 1. It seems the team wants to go on a tried and tested formula,” a source told The Indian Express.
The Pune pitch was not a rank turner. The turn was slow, even though variable bounce kicked in as the match progressed. Yet, India’s batsmen lost 19 of their 20 wickets to spinners, 13 to left-armer Mitchell Santner. It was not the only instance in recent times, as overseas spinners had wreaked havoc on turners, like in Indore against Indore against Australia and Hyderabad and Chennai versus England in their last two tours.
It would be even more of an ordeal for batsmen in Wankhede, as the red soil composition of the pitch would ensure sufficient bounce too. Spin and bounce would be a deadly combination for both sets of batsmen. If uneven bounce too kicks in, the match could be up for an early finish. Wankhede has a history of serving turners. Like in the dead rubber game against Australia in 2004, when the match ended in three days, with Australia skittled out for 93 in the fourth innings. Two of the last three games, too, did not see the fifth day.
Indian spinners have traditionally enjoyed bowling on the surface. In five games, Ravichandran Ashwin has picked up 38 wickets at 18.42, the highest tally by any bowler on this ground. In his only game, Ravindra Jadeja managed six wickets too. On Tuesday, three days before the game, the pitch looked bare and without grass, with the ground-staff regularly watering it with sprinklers and leaving it open for long hours to dry in the sun. But in the first session, aided by the sea breeze—which facilitates drift for spinners too—seamers could get some movement too.
