Although the first Ranji Trophy match of this season at the Wankhede saw an all-time Ranji record being broken and two triple centuries being scored on a flat deck and there was some belief that the pitch for the fourth India-England Test will assist spinners immediately, it seems as though the wicket will be a slow turner which only starts turning from day three.
The first Ranji game that took place at the venue this season saw Maharashtra take on Delhi in a game that saw 1,283 runs being scored while just 12 wickets fell in the entire match, which unsurprisingly ended in a draw. While the second match between Andhra and Haryana saw neither side score more than 300 in both innings and the bowlers dominated the proceedings.
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So working out whether the pitch for the fourth Test against England will be flat or bowler-friendly has been one that is tricky to predict. But according to one of the MCA groundstaff, the pitch for the fourth Test will only start turning slowly and also added that no special preparations are being made.
"The wicket will be normal. It won't turn on the first day and it can slowly start turning (assisting spin) from day three," a source told PTI. “No special preparations are being made. The World T20 and Ranji matches have happened here. We have to prepare well for an international match and we have done that.”
Plenty of time to prepare pitch
The source also added that they had more time to prepare the wicket thanks to a game being moved away from the stadium.
“We got 20 days to prepare the wicket as a Ranji Trophy game was shifted away from the stadium (to another venue). In our opinion, there will be little bit of bounce. We are watering as per the usual procedure. There was a little dew factor that we had to take into consideration and have done watering accordingly. Because of the dew, we watered it less," they added.
While India have won 10 of the 24 matches at the venue and have a win percentage of 41.66, the last of which was Sachin Tendulkar’s 200th Test, against West Indies in 2013 that the hosts won by an innings, England have an even better record at the venue. Of the seven Tests that England have played at the venue, they have won three and have a win percentage of 42.85, which is better than India.
The fact that there has been no word from the Indian team as to how the pitch must behave was another thing that was reiterated by the sources despite reports in the media saying otherwise. Irrespective of how the pitch behaves, India will look to capitalise on their unassailable lead and secure the five-match Test series in Mumbai.
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