The Indian management, led by captain Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir, has prepared a blueprint for success at home in Test cricket. The failure to win even one Test against New Zealand in 2024 and South Africa in 2025 has forced the management to move away from serving raging turners to visitors.
Gambhir and Gill have decided to opt for black soil, mixed soil, and traditional Indian pitches for home Test matches for the remainder of the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. The one-off Test against Afghanistan will serve as a testing ground for the method, with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) the primary goal.
No more red-soil pitches
The Kolkata Test against South Africa, where the match ended inside 8 sessions, with India failing to chase 120. It had seemed like the management, Gambhir especially, had learnt from the New Zealand whitewash with more neutral tracks offered for the West Indies series, where traditional Indian surfaces were provided, the ones where gradual wear and tear does the trick.
But, for whatever reason, the management went back and opted for a rank turner at Eden Gardens. That series defeat to the Proteas was the final straw. No more red-soil surfaces that break on the first day itself. Basically, no ‘lottery pitches’ anymore.
Opting for Mullanpur as the venue for the India vs Afghanistan Test is part of the plan. In fact, all of the venues for the 2027 BGT have been chosen keeping this in mind. We saw how the Indian batters thrived on good batting tracks in England, and against the West Indies at home, the idea behind returning to balanced pitches at home is to empower the batters, who have been dealing with the toughest tracks at home.
“Mullanpur, Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi, and Ahmedabad are the venues for India’s next six home Tests, and they have been carefully selected keeping the pitches, soil, and conditions in mind. Most of these venues offer red, black, and mixed-soil options, but all of them can produce tracks that will last five days. Our batters haven’t looked comfortable playing on turners that start breaking from Day 1, and early finishes are not broadcaster-friendly either,” a source told the Times of India.
Traditional pitch for IND vs AFG Test
It’s peak summertime in Northern India. The temperature is soaring. The schools are closed. Ditching out a red-soil pitch to Afghanistan in Mullanpur, who have quality spinners, will be hara-kiri. The pitch will break under the sweltering sun. That’s why we’ll see a black soil pitch in New Chandigarh.
Early on, the bowlers will have to work hard for wickets, and the batters will come into play. As the game progresses, it’ll be vice versa. India has already picked the squad for the one-off Test, and it’s fair to assume that three spinners will play.
“Mullanpur has a red-soil option too, if I am not wrong, but at that temperature, it will not be a wise move to play on red soil. Black soil has to be the ideal choice not just for the Afghanistan game but also for the home series against Australia. Guwahati has a mixed square, Chennai has a mixed square, Ranchi and Nagpur produced good pitches the last time matches were played there, and Ahmedabad gives you multiple options to choose from.
The nature of red soil is such that it will break sooner rather than later. So, black soil is the best bet for gradual wear and tear. Again, if you try changing the pitch closer to the match, it will always backfire, so it is better to have the messaging sorted well in advance,” a seasoned BCCI curator revealed.
Gambhir & Gill to do away with rank turners, commence ‘Project BGT’ with IND vs AFG Test Inside Sport India.
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