India vs Bangladesh: Indore pitch might please India's fast bowlers

NAGPUR: When was the last time the entire Indian pace attack featured in the ICC Test Rankings top-25? While the frontline spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, have been there for the last four-five years, the pacers - Jasprit Bumrah (4), Mohammed Shami (15), Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav - have formed a potent combo for the last two years. Now, the Indians don't mind playing on pitches that aid the seamers, even at home.
"To hell with pitches," has been the rallying cry from India's head coach Ravi Shastri.Since Shastri was reappointed in 2017, India have mostly veered away from turners and played on competitive wickets at home. In fact, India played on a green top against Sri Lanka in 2017 to have proper practice for the South Africa tour.
It's no surprise, then, that the pitch at the Holkar Stadium wicket in Indore, the venue of the first Test against Bangladesh on Tuesday, seems to be in the same vein - a competitive wicket where pacers are likely to have enough say.
The strip is the same one on which last two Ranji Trophy finals have been played. Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) chief curator Samandar Singh Chauhan has been using red soil for the last four years to prepare these pitches.
Curator Samunder Singh Chouhan along with Taposh Chatterjee inspect pitch at Holkar Stadium on Monday. (TOI Photo)
"Red soil wickets offer good bounce. It helps the pacers and if batsmen apply themselves, it's good for stroke-making. Besides, it also offers turn as the game progresses. It's going to be a good sporting wicket where everyone will get something," a source told TOI.
Experts had praised the Holkar Stadium pitch during the Ranji Trophy final between Vidarbha and Delhi. Former Mumbai skipper Amol Muzumdar, also batting coach of Rajasthan Royals and South Africa, had, while commentating during the final, advocated such wickets for domestic cricket.
In that game, pacers from both sides had had their say in the first innings while spinners came to the party in Delhi's second innings. Besides, there were two centuries and seven half-centuries in four days. The wicket during Ranji final between Gujarat and Mumbai in 2017 was also of a similar nature, with the game lasting till the final session of the final day.
MPCA officials denied receiving any pitch-preparation requests from the Indian team management. However, Indian pacers' red-hot form and Bangladesh's dependence on their spinners might have prompted the curator to go for a 'hard wicket'.
India's pacers picked up 26 wickets as compared to 34 taken by spinners in the recent home series against South Africa. Unlike 2015, where India preferred square turners, the matches were played on good competitive wickets. "India have covered most of the bases. They have become the team which can win on any surface. They did well on hard, bouncy wickets in Australia. On square turners too, they are very hard to beat," the source said.