The unnecessary hoopla over the Mohali pitch and home advantage

Ravindra Jadeja was the destroyer in chief in the Test match at the PCA Stadium in Mohali

India completed a comfortable 108-run win in the opening Test of the four-match series on Saturday, thanks to a superlative all-round performance from Ravindra Jadeja and yet another excellent showing from Ravichandran Ashwin. The South Africans, particularly in their chase of 218, surprisingly showed little application on a track that wasn't spinning as viciously as was expected when the ball was new, and gave away the 1-0 advantage to the hosts.

Over the course of the last three days, one of the things that has come up for much debate has been the pitch, with players, particularly from the opposition, saying it wasn't a “great Test wicket”.

What South Africans can learn from Kohli’s attitude

There are a few things I want to raise on this issue, and I'll do so by citing examples. The first case is from a match involving again India and South Africa, the year being 2013 and the venue the Wanderers in Johannesburg.

The visitors had been zipped 2-0 in the ODI series that preceded the Tests and the talk of a green seamer awaiting them at Bull Ring must have only added to their worries. MS Dhoni then surprised a few by opting to bat after winning the toss, but Virat Kohli played what I firmly believe is his best Test hundred till date. On a green deck against Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Jacques Kallis and Vernon Philander, Kohli helped India recover from 24 for 2 and reach a position of safety at the end of Day One.

At the end of the Day’s play, Allan Donald, the bowling coach of the South African team, had this to say about the knock:

“He (Kohli) showed great discipline and responsibility. It reminded me of Sachin Tendulkar when they came here in 1996. I was the first one to say back in 1996 that India didn't have much bottle. One person jumped out and played for the situation, played for his team, and that was Tendulkar. That's what came to my mind when I saw Kohli batting,"

But what did Kohli himself say about the pitch or on his knock? Nothing. No tantrums thrown at the curator or the organisers. He went in, applied his skills and crafted a superb hundred. I don't think this has been said ever, but the South Africans on this trip can certainly learn a thing or two from Kohli’s attitude.

Further, if they want help to counter the conditions, then there are always videos available on Youtube. In particular, they could all have a look at how Kevin Pietersen played spin on a pitch that was turning square in 2012 in Mumbai and smashed his way to an amazing 186 against the likes of Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha and Harbhajan Singh to help his side script a sensational win.

On a rank turner in Mumbai, Kevin Pietersen played a superb knock

Using home advantage – So What?

For a long time I didn't buy the logic of hosts preparing tracks that suit their strengths, simply because it wasn't an even contest for both teams in that case. But my line of thinking was altered significantly last year when India played England at Lord’s on a pitch which gave the impression that the Marleybourne Cricket Club (MCC) had ordered a crane to pick up the greenest grass in the country and land it straight on the pitch at the Home of Cricket.

The hosts took maximum advantage of the home conditions, realising that their bigger strength was their bowling attack which had James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Liam Plunkett in their ranks.

But who ended up winning? India. Why? Because Ajinkya Rahane in the first innings and Murali Vijay in the second innings showed outstanding discipline and turned the tables on the hosts.

That match convinced me of two things:

1. There was nothing wrong in making use of home conditions.

2. If you as the opposition show right skills and temperament then you can counter any conditions.

The bottom line in all of this is simple: the home team has the right to make full use of the advantage that they have at their disposal and as an opposition, it is up to you how you counter it.

Murali Vijay played a fine innings at Lords last year

When teams visit Perth, they perhaps have to counter the most challenging of conditions in all of cricket, on a pitch that has trampoline-like bounce. But on the very same pitch, in 1992, Sachin Tendulkar scored one of his best tons as an 18-year-old and found applause coming even from the visitors’ camp.

South Africa have to realise that as they go further into this series they will have pitches that will take even more substantial turn than the one at Mohali. And rather than putting the blame on the 22 yards, they would do well to get themselves ready to tackle the conditions in a more assured manner.