Indian pitches mystify coach Rahul Dravid

Visakhapatnam, February 5

India head coach Rahul Dravid today said the team management does not ask for rank turners while playing at home and it is tough to predict how a particular pitch would play out over the course of five days in a Test.

The previous series against England in 2021 and against Australia last year were played on raging turners with most games ending within three days. However, the first two Tests against England in the ongoing series have gone on for four days.

While Hyderabad was a slow turner, Vizag surface remained flat for the major part of the match.

Dravid is someone who is regular with his pitch inspections before and during the game and a lot of times in between sessions as well.

His long-time teammate Sourav Ganguly recently said that India don’t need to play on rank turners as they have a well-balanced bowling attack.

Asked if more pitches like Vizag could be seen in the next three Tests, Dravid said he was clueless on the subject like anybody else.

“Curators make the pitches. We don’t ask for rank turners. Obviously, tracks in India would spin, how much they’ll spin, how less they’ll spin. I’m not an expert. I sometimes get told they’ll turn on the third day, but they turn on the first day. Sometimes I get told they’ll turn on the second day and they don’t turn till Day 4,” Dravid said.

“So, I’m sometimes as clueless as anybody else. We look at the wicket and we try and do the best we can on what we get. We go to Rajkot, we’ll see what we can get and play with whatever we get in front of,” he added.

Praise for England

England’s refreshing approach to Test cricket has found an admirer in Dravid, who expects tough cricket in the remaining three matches between the sides.

The former India captain appreciated England’s approach, built around swashbuckling batting, to a format he held close to his heart. “I’m not sure how happy they are about the term, but they are playing really good cricket, let’s be honest about it,” Dravid said. “It’s not wild slogging, they are actually showing some very good skills. Some of the shots they are playing require a lot of skills and ability. You can’t just come and execute those things.”

Dravid said England’s approach was not one-dimensional. “There’s more to it than just attacking cricket. I have seen at times they know when to pull back, when to attack,” he added. — Agencies