After five humbling defeats, Shubman Gill and co. to ditch raging turners at home
After debacles in home Tests against New Zealand and South Africa, India are set to move away from raging turners and return to traditional pitches with gradual wear and tear. Carefully selected venues and black/mixed soil surfaces are expected to shape India’s strategy. India will play Afghanistan in a one-off Test match from June 6.
NEW DELHI: In the past 18 months, India's home fortress in Test cricket has not only been breached but ransacked with utter defiance by New Zealand and South Africa's spinners. India were handed a 0-3 whitewash by New Zealand 2024 and, a year later, suffered a 0-2 loss against South Africa. The defeats in those five Tests have left India reeling at No.
6 in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings, with their hopes of qualifying for the final hanging by a thread. One of the biggest learnings from these defeats is that the Indian team management is likely to move away from preparing raging turners, TimesofIndia. com can confirm.
If the 0-3 defeat to New Zealand was an eye-opener, the 0-2 loss to South Africa has prompted the management to opt for surfaces that offer gradual wear and tear instead. Multiple discussions regarding this have already taken place, and this also played a role in selecting venues for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in 2027. Indian team is not averse to turning tracks but prefers surfaces offering gradual wear and tear over red-soil surfaces that provide sharp turn, variable bounce and deteriorate from Day 1 -- something seen during the Eden Gardens Test against South Africa, which ended inside three days.
Black soil, mixed soil and traditional Indian pitches are going to be the way forward as the think tank wants the team to have the best possible chance. Indian batters' inability to play quality spin on turning tracks also played a role. "Mullanpur, Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi and Ahmedabad are the venues for India's next six home Tests, and they have been carefully selected keeping the pitches, soil and conditions in mind.