Poll: Turning tracks or seaming scorcher the way forward?

Poll: Turning tracks or seaming scorcher the way forward?: Mornings proposed a bit moisture to give spinners a bite while evenings were more about dust and dead tales. The recently concluded Test series between India and South Africa sparked criticism since the cherry was dominating the willow and moreover we have witnessed the ball turning to the batsman’s surprise from the very initial stage.

The likes of Ravichandran Ashwin spinning the ball as it bounces off the arm guard was a familiar sight throughout the India vs South Africa Test series. Former cricketers and current players termed the Indian wickets as “diabolical” pitches while the Indian pack didn’t look much convinced with the talks.

The Indian skipper Virat Kohli spoke in favour of the result-oriented wicket. “They have been talking about the pitches and how that has been a factor. In this series, four of the top five run-getters were Indians. Top two wicket-takers were Indians. We have had no excuses, we played honest cricket and we got the results in our favour. We are proud of what we have done and how we have played.”

Clearly the Indians batted well without much of a discomfort. It is not that the likes of Shikhar Dhawan or a certain Ajinkya Rahane had a walk in the park facing the South Africans. Leg-spinner Imran Tahir broke India’s back during the Nagpur Test with a fifer while a crafty Dean Elgar scalped four wickets at Mohali. But the concern here is the ability to adapt to challenging conditions. Conditions where you do not keep three slips and a gully, conditions where the ball doesn’t start swinging from the word go.

We are not used to short-leg with a slip in the very first over of the day’s play. We are not used to the ball turning big and beating the blade time and again. It hits us with astonishment because we expect the ball to behave till the third day’s first session.

Somewhere down-under, the likes of David Warner and Usman Khawaja kept on pulling, driving and slicing the red ball on a wicket that was flat as a dodo. Five centuries were plundered along with four half-centuries.

A target of 504 runs was set to the Kiwi’s, as the match ended in a one sided contest. The story was pretty similar in the second Test, with the crowd getting to witness a run feast once again. The third game was played on a pitch that offered some resistance for the bowlers, and to much delight the visitors narrowly missed a thrilling win, having picked up 17 wickets. The match finished under three days, with Australia getting the better of New Zealand in a close shave game. Questions popped up regarding Australia’s strips too, as the previous records didn’t encourage much on results.

Coming back to the point, some where down the line, the South African batsmen failed to read the spin and guile of the Indian bowlers. A prime example can be the in-form AB de Villiers. AB misjudged Amit Mishra’s pace and was slow to move his magical feet, as a result his timber was castled even before he realised in the 1st Test. As former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar said, South Africa lost the game in the dressing room.

As former Indian skipper, Sunil Gavaskar said, South Africa lost the game in the dressing room. “Their mind was muddled with turn, turn and turn. They were losing matches in the dressing room,” Gavaskar said of South Africa’s batsmen, who were either leg before or bowled for failing to differentiate between a straighter and a turner.

May be we should just sit back and encourage good performances. Performances where the ball gives an evenly contest to the supreme willow. Contests where the true character of a batsman comes into the canvas. The fans will hope to see more of such contests where the spin or swing is making things uneasy for a batsman, after all, Test cricket will be the real winner.

We want the fans to give out their opinion, vote and let us know what they think.

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