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Pitches for India-Australia series - Flat or Turners?

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Statsman

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Pitches for the India vs Australia Test series

What kind of pitches do you think the Indian curators should prepare when Aussies tour India early next year?

Many claim that the Aussies were benevolent to prepare flat tracks for the Indian batsmen when India toured them last. :kohli :smith

Should India return the favor?
 
On true flat pitches guy like Warner could run away with the game. 400/4 on first day could be a possibility. I hope curator provides some turn.
 
Rank turners.

I don't see AUS crossing 200 against Ashwin and Jadeja on a turner.
 
Statsman said:
What kind of pitches do you think the Indian curators should prepare when Aussies tour India early next year?

Many claim that the Aussies were benevolent to prepare flat tracks for the Indian batsmen when India toured them last. :kohli :smith

Should India return the favor?
Click to expand...

Nope. That was a boring series except the first 2 tests.

They should've provided pitches that were fast and had ample bounce. Not pattas.

We should ideally provide 3 pitches like what we had in Mumbai. Good amount of turn where you can score runs if you bat well and take wickets if you bowl well. And one square turner for a bit of fun.
 
Statsman said:
What kind of pitches do you think the Indian curators should prepare when Aussies tour India early next year?

Many claim that the Aussies were benevolent to prepare flat tracks for the Indian batsmen when India toured them last. :kohli :smith

Should India return the favor?
Click to expand...

aussies are not capable of producing anything but a road.
we should have a decent mix, like eng series.
 
India should improve their play against spin if they like to score Lyon and zampa England suffered because of part time spinner except Rashid
 
Need turners or atleast sharp turners like that of Mumbai,Chennai-Rajkot ones could be disaster ,considering it will be summer hopefully we get the turners,can't believe Chennai got a match in december when we deserved one in Mar-Apr against Aus -would had exhausted them.
 
ego-gambit said:
India should improve their play against spin if they like to score Lyon and zampa England suffered because of part time spinner except Rashid
Click to expand...

I don't think Lyon or Zampa can be much of a threat for the Indian batsmen, especially the latter considering how well they play leggies. Aussies on the other hand are atrocious against spin.

Apologies for being lazy with the title mods. Thanks for correcting it. :kakmal
 
turners without a shadow of doubt
why prepare flat tracks ?
Ashwin & Jadeja bowling in first hour of test match would b fun :kohli
 
India proved turners are not required, winning toss is not required etc. But for now let's go back to turners to see Warner and co behave like cow on ice.
 
I'm more interested what pitch will be like in Melborne vs Pak especially after the 1st test.
 
Aussies are nice to visiting teams, so we should be too. Let's give them 2 flat decks.
 
We should afford no leeway to Australia. Roll out the turners and let them crumble.

Not that they wouldn't anyway, but still.
 
jeetu said:
On true flat pitches guy like Warner could run away with the game. 400/4 on first day could be a possibility. I hope curator provides some turn.
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Ashwin is there to neutralize Warner threat. Personally I'd like pitches like Mumbai, that has turn and deteriorates but is generally good for batting.

Chennai was pure patta, nothing like that again please!
 
There will be no Zampa.

Lyon plus O'Keefe and maybe Agar.

They won't repeat the Sri Lanka error of picking the same batsmen as for a home series. Handscomb will be a key addition and Renshaw should be like Jennings or Cook.
 
Bhaag Viru Bhaag said:
Can anyone post the schedule?
Click to expand...

maxresdefault.jpg
 
We should have tracks similar to ones in Mumbai. Australia would struggle to score on those but India should be able to post healthy totals. Ranks turners can be a bit of a lottery.
 
Hopefully we get to see some filthy rank turners. Nothing better than seeing the Aussies getting a smashing out in the sub continent.
 
We should be back to square turners.

In England series we have proved we can beat opposition on good pitches despite losing tosses. Lets go back to turners.
 
Pitches that aid spinners but not rank turners. Ashwin and Jadeja should do well on such pitches while lyon will be rendered useless. On rank turners, even Steve Smith might take a fifer with his long hops :facepalm:
 
Curators should be told if you are going to prepare something, DO IT PROPERLY.

Wanna prepare a swing track in Dharmasala...what the hell....phir bhi...prepare a good one.

Wanna prepare a rank turner....do it properly.

Wanna prepare a normal turner that progressively turns big....do it properly.

Don't do wishy washy jobs of preparing tracks like Vizag and Mohali which are neither here nor there. Even though our spinners will average the same (or just a touch more) on those tracks, it makes for boring cricket.

England series was fun for the sole aspect we wanted to see India pound England.

Otherwise it was a BORING series due to boring tracks. The best match was in Mumbai which was a gun track. Rajkot was exciting in the last day cos we had to save it.
 
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The problem with rank turners is they're impossible to bat on unless your name is VVS Laxman, it could backfire on India. Pitches with a bit of turn and sharp turn by day five on the other hand are perfect, bad enough for Australia to fall apart, but good enough for India to score runs.
 
FlickedOffHips said:
what is the usual conditions on these pitches? i know dharmasala is a greenish surface.
Click to expand...
Yep. Best pitch for fast bowlers in India.! Higher altitude also means ball travels faster through the thinner air ==> More pace on the ball & it goes a long way when hit ...

IND should leave nothing to chance and finish off the series before they reach Dharmasala. I am guessing Starc & Hazlewood will be a handful at Dharmasala .
 
I believe Pune pitch will turn. We say that in LOI's before.

Dont see Aus batsman posing much of a huge challenge, barring Smith maybe Warner (if its flat first day pitch)

Cant say how the new aussie boys will go on spin tracks.
 
cric_fanatic said:
I believe Pune pitch will turn. We say that in LOI's before.

Dont see Aus batsman posing much of a huge challenge, barring Smith maybe Warner (if its flat first day pitch)

Cant say how the new aussie boys will go on spin tracks.
Click to expand...

Gahunge is the flattest pitch in India behind Wankhede.
 
Boi said:
Hopefully we get to see some filthy rank turners. Nothing better than seeing the Aussies getting a smashing out in the sub continent.
Click to expand...
Seeing India getting clobbered in their own home.
 
If pitches are like Eng series, I think Aus will do better than Eng.
 
Buffet said:
If pitches are like Eng series, I think Aus will do better than Eng.
Click to expand...

I think aus will do better because their pacers will be more of a threat- especially starc.This guy can take wickets anywhere. lyon could be trouble too. we'll have wait and see about how aus batsman face the indian bowlers.
 
Flat pitches with one rank turner thrown in is probably what we'll see. The Indian public loves seeing their batsmen succeed.
 
Rank Turners.

Even if India loose the toss , Aussies will not be able to capitalize on that.
 
Turners like last Aus series,this England series gave no home advantage
 
Would be slow wickets like recent tour. Reckon BCCI wouldn't make more than one turner because of fear of criticism

I hope Starc and Haz would come back injury-free after the tour.
 
ego-gambit said:
India should improve their play against spin if they like to score Lyon and zampa England suffered because of part time spinner except Rashid
Click to expand...

Reckon that myth has been debunked.. Current line-up is perfectly fine against spin. Hope they drop Rahane though and persist with Karun in SC.
 
Statsman said:
What kind of pitches do you think the Indian curators should prepare when Aussies tour India early next year?

Many claim that the Aussies were benevolent to prepare flat tracks for the Indian batsmen when India toured them last. :kohli :smith

Should India return the favor?
Click to expand...

Asim2Good said:
turners without a shadow of doubt
why prepare flat tracks ?
Ashwin & Jadeja bowling in first hour of test match would b fun :kohli
Click to expand...

That Kohli smiley is making me cringe. This new one is wayy better: :kohli2
 
Chrish said:
Reckon that myth has been debunked.. Current line-up is perfectly fine against spin. Hope they drop Rahane though and persist with Karun in SC.
Click to expand...

It wasn't a myth .

Its just that players got replaced and others improved.

Vijay - Always solid
Dhawan - Got replaced.
Pujara - Our best player of spin. Now got back his flow in Asia and looks amazing against spin (in Aus, Lyon was troubling him)
Kohli - Wasn't impactful in Asia but he has transformed
Rahane - Poor as ever
Nair - Considered India's best player of spin
Parthiv Patel - Very good player of spin

Then you have a strong tail of Ash, Jaddu and Jayant who can play spin well.

We just went from a unpredictable spin playing side to a really good one with some nice TWEAKS and improvements.
 
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sensible-indian-fan said:
It wasn't a myth .

Its just that players got replaced and others improved.

Vijay - Always solid
Dhawan - Got replaced.
Pujara - Our best player of spin. Now got back his flow in Asia and looks amazing against spin (in Aus, Lyon was troubling him)
Kohli - Wasn't impactful in Asia but he has transformed
Rahane - Poor as ever
Nair - Considered India's best player of spin
Parthiv Patel - Very good player of spin

Then you have a strong tail of Ash, Jaddu and Jayant who can play spin well.

We just went from a unpredictable spin playing side to a really good one with some nice TWEAKS and improvements.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's what I meant.. Since Kohli has evolved and based on the strength of Indian tail, they should be prepared against any spin attack ATM. Hate to say it but Rahane should be let go in SC until he sorts himself out.
 
Should India go back to the traditional turners?

Because versus England, they won the toss and posted good scores, Australia could probably post better and at a lesser time. Moreover Australia have a better pace "unit" than England's and could exploit reverse swing more. On spin front they cant do worse than England.

IMO it will be a big risk to dish out flat pitches to Australia and could prove costly for us.

What do you guys think?
 
I earnestly hope them to be turners. Watching Aussie ftb's do break dance would be fun.
 
Deewana Mastana said:
A few individual 200's will be scored and maybe the odd 300.
Click to expand...

Smith has already asked Warner that if he gets to a 100, he should look to buckle down and go for a big one. and he's capable tbh. Both Warner-Smith score quickly and if they win a toss on flat pitch, they could post 600+ in less than 2 days.
 
Absolutely, it's not our fault that they can't play swing/seam or turn.
We should play to our biggest strength, prepare our series vs NZ type of pitches & that should be enough to roll them over.
 
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On a flat pitch Warner could take you apart. Better to produce spinning pitches, won't be many close games though
 
Cricfan4eva said:
Smith has already asked Warner that if he gets to a 100, he should look to buckle down and go for a big one. and he's capable tbh. Both Warner-Smith score quickly and if they win a toss on flat pitch, they could post 600+ in less than 2 days.
Click to expand...

Yes I know.

If they get in, we all know that they score quickly and go big which means they are capable of taking the game away like they did against Pakistan recently.
 
Hasan123 said:
On a flat pitch Warner could take you apart. Better to produce spinning pitches, won't be many close games though
Click to expand...
He could but he won't, he doesn't have a Sehwagesue game, can't see him concentrate for more than 2 sessions whilst blasting the opposition away & also DRS. On flat tracks Smith is still our biggest worry, though we do have certain flat track bullies as well, but on turners I don't see any Aussie batter making hay against us consistently.
 
R0H1T said:
Absolutely, it's not our fault that they can't play swing/seam or turn.
We should play to our biggest strength, prepare our series vs NZ type of pitches & that should be enough to roll them over.
Click to expand...

And then we will have holier than thou fellas like Gavaskar and Ganguly calling even those pitches as rank turners/heavy spin tracks.

Lol.
 
sensible-indian-fan said:
And then we will have holier than thou fellas like Gavaskar and Ganguly calling even those pitches as rank turners/heavy spin tracks.

Lol.
Click to expand...
Maybe they're trying to present a balanced view, by going in the opposite direction of someone like a Ravi Shastri, even then it's a hard job for two of our greats.

Any whinging about bunsen burners, raging turners or whatever else should not matter to Kohli or the BCCI. We play to win, other teams might want to maximize on the Indian audience, via TV rights, but we have no such compulsions to cater to.
 
R0H1T said:
Maybe they're trying to present a balanced view, by going in the opposite direction of someone like a Ravi Shastri, even then it's a hard job for two of our greats.

Any whinging about bunsen burners, raging turners or whatever else should not matter to Kohli or the BCCI. We play to win, other teams might want to maximize on the Indian audience, via TV rights, but we have no such compulsions to cater to.
Click to expand...

Those 2 are balanced in general but hopefully we could stop feeding the hyperbole reg our pitches.

Its one thing to criticize Nagpur pitch and another to call NZ series tracks as some kind of tough turners.

I think we should prepare pitches with something for all but with empasis on spin (our strength). That way, runs and wickets can be appreciated.
 
India should take a leaf out of CA's book and realise that they will win the series regardless (probably 4-0) and design the wickets to maximise tv revenue.
 
sensible-indian-fan said:
Those 2 are balanced in general but hopefully we could stop feeding the hyperbole reg our pitches.

Its one thing to criticize Nagpur pitch and another to call NZ series tracks as some kind of tough turners.

I think we should prepare pitches with something for all but with empasis on spin (our strength). That way, runs and wickets can be appreciated.
Click to expand...
I can understand their plight, having someone like a Shastri cheer leading for us is frankly embarrassing, apart from that whenever they aren't talking to a particular section of the crowd (appeasement basically) they're fairly balanced in whatever they say.

Maybe we should start counting the green mambas we've had to face over the years, you know just to keep score.

I'd say making balanced pitches is probably the hardest job in cricket, it's an art & even then very few can make it work on their best of days. In India it's even harder, leave a bit of moisture & then we get something like Ahmedabad 2008 where bowling first was a huge advantage. Make it a bit drier & you have Kanpur 2008, Graeme Smith of all the people in the world criticized it IIRC. Trying to make it too fair results in this previous series vs England, they usually end up as roads.

We should prepare what the captain wants, so long as it isn't too unreasonable.
 
Bunsen burners with ball turning square from day 1 morning session :P

No respite to the Aussies, though going by pitches for Eng series, I wouldnt be surprised with normal Indian wicket without much turn on first 2-3 days.
 
R0H1T said:
I can understand their plight, having someone like a Shastri cheer leading for us is frankly embarrassing, apart from that whenever they aren't talking to a particular section of the crowd (appeasement basically) they're fairly balanced in whatever they say.

Maybe we should start counting the green mambas we've had to face over the years, you know just to keep score.

I'd say making balanced pitches is probably the hardest job in cricket, it's an art & even then very few can make it work on their best of days. In India it's even harder, leave a bit of moisture & then we get something like Ahmedabad 2008 where bowling first was a huge advantage. Make it a bit drier & you have Kanpur 2008, Graeme Smith of all the people in the world criticized it IIRC. Trying to make it too fair results in this previous series vs England, they usually end up as roads.

We should prepare what the captain wants, so long as it isn't too unreasonable.
Click to expand...

You are right. I think this whole trouble comes when we look to prepare pitches that turn from day 2 or 3. In the process, we end up creating pitches that dont even turn on day 5 like most pitches in eng series.

Just need to create pitches that turn from day 1. Slow turn though. Or if we can prepare mumbai style pitches, its awesome.

As far as green mambas are concerned, we faced only one in lords. That pitch turned brown on day 2. Beyond that, the last i remember a true green mamba faced by us was in 2002 in nz.

SA pitches do have moisture and aid seam bowling in general even though they dont look like green mambas.
 
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India have no choice, they have to prepare turners. Their bowlers cannot compete with the Aus bowlers on flat tracks.
 
If India prepare the same wickets as the ones they gave England, I wouldn't be surprised to see Aus win a few Tests.
 
Aus is not winning any test in india,
Aus lost to pak 2-0 in UAE when pak attack was
Imran khan ( debut)
Yasir shah (debut)
Zulifqar Babar
Hafeez
Rahat Ali (7th match)
 
Since India proved that atleast at home they don't need rank turners to win , they should go back to provide turners for Australia. Lets see them dance
 
Probably something like the Mumbai pitch against England - not a rank turner since both teams got 400+ but something for the spinners throughout and much more pronounced from Day 4.

Having said that, a flatter wicket probably brings a greater sense of satisfaction since you know the opposition had even conditions to face - for e.g. the recent England series vs S Africa in late 2015 (minefields). Also keeps the fast bowlers in the game which is key for their development.

Won't be surprised if the Indian pacers reverse it better than Starc and Co. A lot was made out of Anderson and Broad too but things didn't quite shape up as they would have wanted. Agreed that Indian pacers have tremendous support in Ashwin/Jadeja and Australia's spin attack doesn't look much better (at least on paper) than England's. However, Lyon is fully capable of springing a few surprises.
 
Gilly said:
India have no choice, they have to prepare turners. Their bowlers cannot compete with the Aus bowlers on flat tracks.
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Flat tracks make cricket boring. Not sure why we should follow the Aussies' obsession with highways.
 
Gilly said:
India have no choice, they have to prepare turners. Their bowlers cannot compete with the Aus bowlers on flat tracks.
Click to expand...

Indian flat tracks aren't the same as Aussie flat tracks. Believe it or not, our spinners will still come into play, and pacers too would be equal if not better.
 
On flat pitches : Australia win possibility 65%
On semi swing pitches: Australia 60%
On only seam movemeny pitches: Australia 55%
On spin pitches : Australia 0%
On green mambas : Australia 40%
 
On green mambas our bowlers become absolute beasts.And batting has class to somehow survive and score decent.
Case in point: lords
Note : Bhuvi is available
 
Pollack said:
On flat pitches : Australia win possibility 65%
On semi swing pitches: Australia 60%
On only seam movemeny pitches: Australia 55%
On spin pitches : Australia 0%
On green mambas : Australia 40%
Click to expand...

Certainly not. Indian pacers are experts at bowling on flat Indian surfaces, while Aussies will struggle. Same goes for batting, our HTBs will be superior to their FTBs. Eventually it will come down to spin, and Indians will have a definite upper hand.
 
Zak_Fan said:
Certainly not. Indian pacers are experts at bowling on flat Indian surfaces, while Aussies will struggle. Same goes for batting, our HTBs will be superior to their FTBs. Eventually it will come down to spin, and Indians will have a definite upper hand.
Click to expand...
I respect your opinion but don't you feel that was certainly not the case with odi series in 2013. Australia were piling runs as much as india on flat pitches.I know I am mixing format but it doesn't really matter in this context.That series their bowling was weak.In this test series it wouldn't be the case.
 
Actually I am wary of smith Warner and handscomb.They are very consistent on flat pitches(smith has special liking for India on any pitch).
 
Pollack said:
I respect your opinion but don't you feel that was certainly not the case with odi series in 2013. Australia were piling runs as much as india on flat pitches.I know I am mixing format but it doesn't really matter in this context.That series their bowling was weak.In this test series it wouldn't be the case.
Click to expand...

Not really. That ODI series, they had a standout bowler in Mitchell Jhonson who had started his pre-Ashes resurgence. There is not a single bowler in this Aussie lineup who can be as impactful here. Starc too has been horrendous in India for whatever number of matches he has played.

While their attack will easily outbowl India's on Aussie flat decks, in India, our attack will have a definite upper hand. Be it our spinners or pacers, we have bowlers who usually excel on tracks similar to the ones in India-England series.
 
Ashwin averaged over 30 against England on the recent Indian pitches so the BCCI will ensure that their answer for the Indian public's hunger for a statistically great bowler has a much, much better series. Only way to do that is to go back to the rank turners India welcomed South Africa with, or even the milder pitches that the Kiwis got.

Australia has no chance in this series however, so it just depends on whether India wants it's batsmen to continue inflating their averages or go back to their bowlers doing the same.
 
Awwww Billoo so jelly.

Zak_Fan said:
Indian flat tracks aren't the same as Aussie flat tracks. Believe it or not, our spinners will still come into play, and pacers too would be equal if not better.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Indian flat tracks ain't the same as Aussie flat tracks which have bounce.

There will be some grip, some uneven bounce and there will be a bit of turn later on but it won't be consistent.

Flat doesn't mean hopeless patta.

Cricfan4eva said:
its not about enjoyment factor. Are we good enough to beat Australia on the same pitches or its better if we go back to turners, not necessarily the ones we dished out against SA.
Click to expand...

Yes but it will be hard work and moreover, its boring to watch wickets that don't turn or swing or seam.
 
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