Why India should look at having more seam-friendly tracks

We live in a country where batting is more preferred than bowling and this sometimes has been the reason for Indian batting-order collapse in some green pitches. Recently we saw how the batsmen struggled on the Dharamsala pitch in the first ODI, as it was more similar to a pitch that you might get in Durham.

The usual pitches

Most of the pitches in India are batting friendly or dead pitches, which have no support for the bowlers and batsmen love batting on them. We don't often see some good seam bowling in Indian pitches except a few only when the green patches are not shaved off.

In the recent ODI match against Sri Lanka, Lakmal and Mathews were hitting the right length and line but the Indian seamers lacked a bit of venom apart from the help they got from the pitches itself.

Flat Pitch/ Dead Pitch

As a result, whenever India plays on such a soil like Dharamsala or any green tops, the batting order quickly gets dismantled and the result is a loss. The flat pitches do not give any practice for the batsman to prepare themselves for the foreign tours and in turn our away record is not good as compared to home.

Grounds like Indore, Rajkot, Gwalior, Bengaluru, Cuttack have always seen high scoring matches which suggest that these pitches offer very less help to the bowlers and batsmen absolutely love playing on these turfs.

The fierce rivalry of Ashes till date has been magical to watch and much of its reason is due to bowling friendly pitches. The seam bounce and fast pitches definitely makes it worth watching a Test match with more curiosity.

Spin-friendly tracks

There are many dusty pitches in the subcontinent, which supports the spinners as the loose surface helps the ball grip and turn. These types of pitches are one of the main reason for India's fantastic home record as we have always relied on spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to turn the game in India's favor.

While this is often seen as an advantage, we have also seen certain circumstances where these pitches acted against India. When South Africa toured India in 2015 most of the Indian batsmen fell prey to the inexperienced South African spinners. The Indian batsmen just had an average of 18.39 against spin which was not a good sign and earlier this year, India even lost against Australia at Pune.

Dusty Pitch

Green tops are graveyards for batsmen and fast bowlers absolutely love to bowl on these wickets. A thin layer of grass over the pitch causes the ball to seam and move after pitching. These wickets are nightmares for any batting side and is difficult to judge the movement after pitching. The recent pitch at Eden Gardens and Dharamsala had a decent grass cover, which helped the seam bowlers run havoc early in the innings. This is a usual sight in England and South Africa.

The last time India toured South Africa we failed to register a single win and the pitches there played a major role in the defeat.

Usually in a Test match in India after the third day, the cracks on the pitch widens up due to wear and tear and it becomes very hard to play spin on these wickets. Hence, India have often produced quality spinners but has failed to produce anywhere near as many quality seam bowlers.

A matter BCCI needs to address

New habits can always dull old instincts and India's batting order can handle green tops if they are exposed to it more often. In Kolkata and Dharamsala, Lakmal was unplayable and it was similar even at Pune in 2016 when Sri Lanka bowled out India for 101 in a T20I.

It is not a huge problem for India but a symptom that whenever the ball turns nasty and breaks, India's batting looks a bit fragile.

While there are a few bowling friendly pitches here like Kolkata, Pune, Dharamsala, India should look to play more often in seamer friendly pitches, which will help the Indian team assess their strengths and weaknesses for foreign tours.

Therefore it will be beneficial for India to play at least one match in a series on a green top. This exposure will definitely strengthen the batsmen and they will look to adapt themselves quicker, which in turn will be beneficial ahead of the 2019 World Cup and other overseas tours.

Making some permanent green tops in India will also encourage the players in the Ranji Trophy to adjust to different conditions before their international call-up.

Few Ranji Trophy matches over green tops will give exposure to the young talents who will go on to represent India and also help the Indian batting line-up become a powerhouse in world cricket across all surfaces.