India vs England: Second Test pitch in Chennai might offer more turn - Report

Ahead of the second India vs England Test, it has been learned that a fair amount of turn would be expected at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Ahead of the four-match Test series, a lot was talked about England’s struggles on tracks that assist the spinners. The experts of the game said that it won’t be an easy task for Joe Root & Co to face the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar at Chepauk. But the reality told a totally different tale.

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai (BCCI/ Twitter)

The visitors made merry on a flat surface on offer and went to stumps on Day 2 with the scoreboard reading 555/8. Root scored a record double century while Ben Stokes and Dom Sibley managed fifty-plus scores to strengthen England's case.

On the third day, which is usually known as the moving day in a Test, the visitors added 23 more runs to their overnight score and were all-out for 578.

After offering almost nothing to the Indian spinners in the first innings, the pitch kept on deteriorating. By the final day of the game, it turned extremely difficult to bat on and acted in England’s favour. As a result, the visitors bundled the hosts for 192 and won the match by 227 runs to go 1-0 up in the series.

However, ahead of the second Test, it has been learned that a fair share of turn would be expected at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

As reported by news agency PTI, the task will be cut out for Tamil Nadu Cricket Association's rookie curator V Ramesh Kumar and BCCI head of pitches and grounds committee Taposh Chatterjee, to provide a track which doesn't make toss so crucial.

There was grass cover on one of the adjacent strips, which could be used for the second match.

It will be interesting to see whether Ramesh and Chatterjee stop watering the track during the next three days - in the first Test when there was a liberal sprinkling of water and a fair share of rolling.

If a dry pitch is baked adequately in the sunshine, there could always be a case of it breaking early.

There is always this school of thought in Indian cricket circles as to why questions are raised about tracks that offer turn from first day whereas, in places like Christchurch in New Zealand, the 22-yard strip couldn't be identified from the outfield.

Ditto for Basin Reserve in Wellington where the ball was jagging around from the first hour.

(With PTI Inputs)