Ahead of the pink-ball Adelaide Test between India and Australia in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, stadium chief curator Damian Hough said 6mm grass would be used on the pitch. The Adelaide Test, which begins on December 6, will see India enter with both a mental and physical edge after their dominant performance in the first Test, led by Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling and captaincy. But the visitors will also aim to exorcise memories of the infamous 2020 Adelaide pink-ball Test in which they were dismissed for 36, their lowest Test score. On that occasion, Pat Cummins (4/21) and Josh Hazlewood (5/8) dismantled the Indian batting line-up to give Australia a direct target of 90 runs.
“Everything seems to remain the same,” Hough said of the pitch and grass cover in his pre-game press conference. “So it’s the grass, even the grass cover, of course, good deep moisture, but it’s dry and hard. So something quick will have a little bit of an effect.” And the spinner will be able to get some bite and spin and bounce, but it’s also important that we partner with the players and allow them to hit the shots. Think about it.”
Huff said the ground staff were trying to create a ball that would provide good competition between bat and ball, but batting with the new ball under lights could be difficult, especially with both teams having quality bowling attacks. Yes.
On the possibility of the pitch changing over the course of the match, as it did during the Perth Test from challenging to easier to bat on, Hough said he cannot predict that the pitch will change, but he always wants the pitch to change in Test cricket.
He also said Adelaide’s pitches should be able to do enough for both pacers and spinners with the new ball, while also being able to benefit the batsmen as the ball gets older.
“Do you want changes? Of course you do. In a Test match you have four to five days to see changes. Drop-in stadiums are a bit more difficult.”
“There’s no doubt about it because they (drop-in pitches) stick so well. Traditionally in Adelaide, a new ball should suffice for a whole match and it should still stick to the grass, bounce and spin. But as the ball gets older, the player or batsman has to suffice. “Hopefully we can build partnerships and score goals,” he added.
India are now 1-0 ahead in the BGT series after a record win of 295 runs in Perth. The second Test will be played in a day-night format in Adelaide from Friday.
Australia national team (second Test): Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith; Mitchell Stark, Bo Webster
India National Team: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep , Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Reserve: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Kaliel Ahmed, Yash Dayal.
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