Sporting pitch likely

Need to find right length, says Southampton curator

Nigel Gray is a familiar figure in Rose Bowl cricket stadium. He has been associated with the Hampshire Cricket for 25 years now, from a groundsman to the chief curator.

The 61-year-old knows that the focus is firmly on him after the first two Tests between India and England had produced vastly contrasting pitches. At Trent Bridge, a flat wicket broke the spirit of the bowlers, while a green top paved the way for a fine contest at Lord’s, often expressing its leanings towards the bowlers.

So, what we could see here? Gray flashes a knowing smile before answering. “There will be smattering of grass on the pitch. But it will be somewhere between Trent Bridge and Lord’s,” said Gray.

It wasn’t entirely unexpected because England had discovered the damage this Indian bowling side can inflict, while going down by 95 runs at the Lord’s. This Indian attack has certain rawness about it, and ranks well below their English counterparts in experience at the highest level.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad have jointly played more Tests than this entire Indian bowling line-up. But they showed in the second Test that inexperience could be nullified through sheer hard work and cricketing acumen.

Led by a refreshingly thoughtful skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indians bowled a fuller length in the first innings at Lord’s when the ball was darting around. However, the English bowlers, who were expected to exploit the overcast conditions, constantly erred in line and length after reducing India to 145 for seven in their first innings, eventually allowing them to rattle a near 300-run total that proved vital in the end.

 The Indians adopted a different strategy in England’s second innings. Once they realised that the fuller length is not working, they switched to a shorter length, taking the home side batsmen by surprise. “The key here (Rose Bowl) will be to find the right length. As this will not be a pitch where bowlers will get easy assistance like it had happened at Lord’s. But there will be some assistance for those who get their length right,” Gray added.

That might not worry the Indian bowlers a lot as they showed wonderful adapting powers at Lord’s. The words of Gray could also offer some relief for Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli as both of them have yet to make a substantial score in four innings in this series.

Of course, the middle and late order have responded gamely to the task of shoring up the batting, but runs from the willows of Dhawan and Kohli would beef up Indian chances, also putting more pressure on the Englishmen.

 Expected to be the batting bulwark of this Indian side here as he had been in South Africa and New Zealand, Kohli has come up with subdued performances thus far. Of course he has got a couple of good deliveries, but also looked uncharacteristically tentative and edgy so far.

The Delhi man, who is normally a confident shot-maker, appeared to be in two minds, and perhaps, with that factor in mind he arrived at the nets an hour earlier than his colleagues. Kohli started the nets, facing throwdowns from Raghu and Trevor Penny, one of the trainers and the fielding coach respectively.

 The Delhi batsman asked them to bowl at various lengths, and once the proper net session started, looked far more fluent. He also tried his hand at some improvised shots like reverse-sweep and switch-hit, indicating his growing confidence.

“The ball will come on to the batsmen nicely, but they need to remain careful and patient as this will not be a totally lifeless track. Bowlers, particularly the quicker ones, will keep getting some assistance throughout the day,” added Gray.

According to Gray, carefulness and patience are the watchword on the Rose Bowl track, and, perhaps, here the Indians may witness couple of more pieces – Kohli and Dhawan to name them – falling into their places.