5 Reasons why India should play on turning wickets at home

5 Reasons why India should play on turning wickets at home: Over the last couple of weeks, there have been debates encircling the rank turners that have been set for the India-South Africa Test series. More than the performances of the players, it is the pitch that has taken all the accolades for the Indian victory. The question is how fair it is to say that preparing rank turners is not in the favor of Test cricket? Many players have been questioning this. But we believe that there is certainly no harm in preparing wickets that offer spin at home and the Indian team should continue doing the same. Here are 5 reasons why India should continue to roll out turning wickets at home.

1. The Home Advantage – Every team does it:

The very fact that a match is being played at ‘home’ gives the home side an advantage to prepare the wickets that best suits their team composition. No team has ever prepared the wicket that will aid the visiting side. When India toured England in 2014, they prepared the greenest wicket for the 4^th Test. Batting first the Indian team was 4 wickets down for just 8 runs and could only score 152 in the first innings. In response to England’s 367, all they managed was 161 and lost by an innings and 54 runs. Things got worse in the next match as India were bowled out for 148 and 94 in response to England’s 486 and lost by an innings and 244 runs. Well, nobody complained back then. Similarly in 2012, Australia prepared a bouncy track at WACA, Perth, much against the ease of visiting Indian side. India were bundled out for 161 and 171 as against Australia’s 369 only to get an innings defeat. The point here is that every team has the right to prepare hostile wickets for the opposition which is why we always associate the term ‘advantage’ with ‘home’. So complaining when India prepares spinning wickets is absolutely pointless and a case of double standards.

2. Better than playing on belters:

The spin tracks in India are far better than the batting paradises that were used in the earlier days. Cricket is a game that is already very harsh on the bowlers. So why to make it even worse by preparing batting belters? The flat wickets are good for the shorter form of the game as the audiences often pay for the big hitting and massive runs. But when it comes to Test cricket, there has to be some aid for the bowlers. The pitch at WACA during the 2^nd Test between Australia and New Zealand was slammed by critics because both teams amassed runs in the proximity of 500; that is certainly not good for the future of Test cricket. In the subcontinent, no matter how hard the curator tries, it is tough to get a wicket that will suit the fast bowlers just because of the inherent nature of the pitch. So the bowling option that remains is spin bowlers. Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper, also quoted “It is not a policy [to play on such pitches], it is the conditions that you get in India. Otherwise, you will just play Test matches which will get you 500 runs in an innings. You don’t create bowlers like that, you don’t win Test matches like that. The key is to win Test matches.”

3. Playing to the forte:

All teams play to their strengths. The team that knows where their strength lies is often the one that leads the pack. India has not been known for fast bowling. Not taking any credit away from Indian pacers, but it is very unlikely that playing in India, pacers will win you the match. On the contrary, there is an abundance of spin talent with the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra playing in the team and the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Karn Sharma and Piyush Chawla sitting on the fringes waiting for their turn with ample of first-class wickets in their kitty. To aid the growing talent of the Indian spinners, the spin tracks have to be curated. It is very clear that one cannot produce quality bowlers by playing on 500 run pitches. In addition to that, the foreign players usually struggle against the spin bowling. So there is definitely no harm in exploiting the weakness of the opposition. India should definitely play on spin tracks at home to hone their forte an edge further.

4. Result oriented matches:

More than anything else, one good thing that the rank turners have done is that they have provided results. We saw the first Test wrapping up in 3 days and so did the third Test between India and South Africa. The washed-out Test at Bengaluru also looked set for a result. Albeit the matches are finishing up within 3 days, the positive side of it is that at least they are yielding results. A drawn game is neither loved by the spectators nor is appreciated by the cricketers unless it is a closely contested one. To ensure that there are result oriented matches, the only option that is available in the subcontinent is to play on turning tracks.

5. Earn a deadly home reputation:

Every team fears playing down under as they know Australian pacers will rip apart any batting lineup. Reputations such as these do not come by chance but by performances. If India has to earn such a reputation for being an invincible side at home, they have to dominate the oppositions the way they are doing it against South Africa. And this dominance can come only on tracks which favor them. The trio of Ashwin, Jadeja and Mishra have picked up 47 out of the 50 South African wickets in the series and are already becoming a nightmare for many oppositions. The best bowling attacks have personnel capable of hunting in pairs and applying relentless pressure from both ends. The Indian spinners are up for the challenge and have taken full advantage of the turning wickets which make them a formidable bowling unit. While taking 20 wickets has always been a roadblock for India, it does not seem so in the home matches. Needless to say that the Indian team will earn a deadly home reputation if they continue playing on the spinning tracks.