India vs England 2016: Vizag pitch will not have grass and will turn from day 2, says pitch curator
After the first Test match between India and England ended in a draw, the pitch at the SCA ground was subject to a lot of debates and discussion owing to the lack of assistance to the Indian spinners on all 5 days. As the action shifts to Vizag, the pitch curator has said that the pitch will be without grass and it would start turning from Day 2.
The Indian spinners, especially R Ashwin was not at his potent best as the pitch did not deviate enough to pose a threat to the batsmen. Also, Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja were not quite as effective as many expected them to be.
"There will not be much grass and we should expect the ball to turn from lunch on Day 2," Kasturi Sriram, the pitch curator was quoted as saying by the PTI.
He further added that he had received no instructions from the Indian team management about the pitch.
"Yesterday, it was cold and today it's drastically hot and humid and wicket appears dry now. We will see how is it on the eve of the match," Sriram said.
Vishakhapatnam would also be making its debut as a Test cricket venue after Indore and Rajkot.
Gokaraju Gangaraju, the ACA secretary did not give away much information about the pitch.
"We have prepared a neutral wicket and it should assist both the teams equally. We hope to see a result," G Gangaraju, who is also the BCCI vice president told PTI.
Many eyebrows were raised during a Ranji game between Rajasthan and Assam when Assam was bundled out for a paltry 69 and the match ended well before 3 days.
Even during the just concluded ODI series between India and New Zealand the pitch offered considerable assistance to the spinners and thus this bodes well for India for the Test match.
Owing to these factors, the toss once again becomes very crucial and it would be interesting to see the playing XI both teams decide to go in with.