Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith revealed how the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad looks a day before the fourth and final Test against India, starting on Thursday, March 9.
Smith said that the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium looks potentially the flattest one, but he expects the pitch to provide turn as the match progresses in Ahmedabad.
Steve Smith told reporters on the eve of the final Test against India: “Looks like probably of the four wickets we've seen so far, potentially the flattest on day one. Having said that, it's I think 38 degrees out there at the moment, it's pretty hot.”
He added, “Looks like it'll dry out as the day goes on. One of the groundsmen said they might be watering it again today. So yeah, we'll wait and see but in terms of the day before, it certainly looks like it's likely to do less on day one than we've seen so far.”
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The Australian skipper expects bigger totals at the Narendra Modi Stadium than the Nagpur Test. He further said, “It's just playing what's in front of us really, obviously the scores haven't been big throughout this whole series. India scored 400 In that first Test match in Nagpur and Rohit got 100 and 400 proved to be way too many.”
Smith continued, “This wicket may be a little bit different. I just had a look at it then. Perhaps it may not spin as much from the first ball or the first day but I do think it will spin as the game goes on. So yeah, there might be opportunities for bigger totals on this wicket.”
On being asked if he has been disappointed with the pitches on offer for the Test series in India, Smith avoided any kind of controversy, as he said: “We can only play what's in front of us and it's been those types of wickets where if you get up over 200 even it's been a decent total. We're not fussed or anything, we've never complained or anything about the wickets, we go out and play.”
The right-hander continued, “I've said personally I enjoy playing on these types of wickets. It's good fun, there's something always happening and I prefer to play on that than a genuine road.
On these wickets, that we're playing on, 70s and 80s are winning you games of cricket as we've seen. This one might be a little bit different; it might be that someone needs to make a bigger score and the par score might go from 200-250 to 450-500.”
Smith concluded, “I'm not sure, we'll wait and see. It's about playing what's in front of you. But even quick-fire 30s can change momentum, like we saw from Shreyas Iyer in the second innings in the last game… those little cameos can be important in low-scoring games.”
(With PTI Inputs)
