“Curators make the pitches, we don’t ask for rank turners” - Rahul Dravid responds to hullaballoo over Test surfaces in India

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid clarified that the curator in charge of a particular cricket ground in India prepares the pitches for Test matches, adding that the management does not make specific demands for rank tuners.

Pitches in India used for Test matches have been a matter of constant debate. It has been no different this time, although the clamor is slightly lesser than during England’s tour of India in 2021. Experts would be wary of being too critical after Rohit Sharma took a dig at them following the Cape Town Test, which did not even last two full days.

The second Test between India and England in Visakhapatnam ended in the second session on Day 4, with the hosts registering a series-leveling 106-run triumph. Recently, Sourav Ganguly took to social media and opined that India have a strong enough bowling line-up to win Tests without resorting to preparing rank turners.

At a post-match conference on Monday, February 5, Dravid was asked about Ganguly’s views on pitches in India. He responded:

“Curators make the pitches, we don’t ask for rank turners.”

Dravid added that, playing in India, pitches are bound to offer turn, although the degree of spin can vary.

“Obviously, tracks in India will spin. How much they will spin, how less they will spin - I am not an expert. Wickets in India, over the course of four-five days, they do turn. I, sometimes, get told they’ll turn on the third day; they turn on the first day. Sometimes, I get told they’ll turn on the second day, they don’t turn till day four. Sometimes, I am as clueless as anybody else.

"We’ll go to Rajkot, we’ll see what we can get and play with whatever we get in front of us,” the 51-year-old added.

The third Test of the India-England series will be played in Rajkot from February 15 to 19.

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“Couple of individual brilliances kept us in the game” - Rahul Dravid on Visakhapatnam win

India's preparation for the Visakhapatnam Test wasn’t ideal. They had lost the first Test by 28 runs, after which KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja were ruled out of the second Test due to injury.

India were already missing Virat Kohli, who had pulled out of the first two Tests citing personal reasons. Pleased with India’s fightback in the second Test despite the challenges, Dravid asserted:

“It’s good to bounce back. We were put under pressure at various times, but I think a couple of individual brilliances kept us in the game the first couple of days. Yashasvi’s [Jaiswal] brilliant innings - 209 in that first innings - and then Bumrah’s spell on the first two days got us ahead by 140.

"Then, we needed a bit more of a team performance over days three and four to get us over the line. Quite pleased considering going behind in the last Test match and then losing a few players,” he concluded.

Bumrah was named the Player of the Match for claiming 6/45 in the first innings and 3/46 in the second.