The fourth Test between India and England begins in Ranchi on February 23.
The surfaces have been kinder to batters of both sides in this ongoing Test series. They have been neutral and have offered something to all departments. Now all eyes on the curator of Ranchi stadium as to what pitch he offers with India resting Jasprit Bumrah for this tie.
“It’s an interesting pitch. Won’t necessarily be belter of a wicket. There are a few cracks, very platey and it was wet as well when we checked. It would dry if you keep it in the sun, looked a bit crusty, the top layer, One half is good, and the other has a lot of plenty cracks,” Pope said at the pre-match presser.
“If it spins from ball one, it would take the pitch out of the equation too. A lot of games start with a flat pitch, it would deteriorate. That kind of gives the team batting first some advantage,” he added.
Ranchi has hosted two Tests, with India drawing one against Australia in 2017 and defeating South Africa in 2019. The wicket tended to stay low and slow in these games, as opposed to the pitch in Rajkot, when batters could score freely during the third Test.
“At the moment, from the far end, there is a rough outside the right-hander’s off-stump, and from this end, outside the left-hander’s off-stump. Bowling into the rough helps the spinners get the natural variation from the pitch hence the tweakers tend to bowl around the area which tests batters’ technique. You need to be aware of the lengths they (Indian spinner) would target,” Pope cautioned.
Pope also predicted that in the absence of Bumrah, India might opt for a turner and four spinners.
“If they want to leave a bit of grass on it, or shave it off. There is every chance they would do that (shave off the grass?) especially because they have watered it. With Jasprit missing, they might go down that avenue. Probably have to wait and see,” he added.
(PTI inputs)