India's fastest cricket pitch, where preparations for Australia tour will begin two and a half months in advance
The Indian cricket team will tour Australia later this year, where a series of 5 Test matches will be played between the two teams. This series is the most important part of Team India's Test calendar this year. Team India created history by winning the Test series on the last two consecutive Australian tours and now it will enter to make a hat-trick. In both series, the role of its fast bowlers was the most important in Team India's victory and it will be needed this time too. But the big question is who will be the other pacers to support Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj? To find the answer to this, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has chosen a venue for the Duleep Trophy matches, whose name has been heard very rarely but which gives a feeling exactly like Australia.
India's domestic cricket season will begin with the Duleep Trophy matches on September 5, in which 4 teams - India A, B, C, and D - are participating. Although this tournament is being seen as a preparation for the Test series against Bangladesh starting on September 19, which is also correct and that is why the board has included most of the players who are part of the Test team in these teams, the board is not just thinking about one series, but also about the 'Border-Gavaskar Trophy' (BGT) starting after about 3 months and has started preparing.
India's fastest pitch
After about 11 years, first-class cricket is returning to Anantapur, a small town in Andhra Pradesh. Located in Andhra Pradesh about a kilometer away from Bengaluru, this venue has played only one match in 2018 in the last 11 years, but in the true sense, high-level domestic cricket will be played in Anantapur after 2013, in which many players from Team India's Test and ODI team will be seen playing on the field. Now the question arises why did the board suddenly choose this unknown place, where the nearest airport is also more than 100 kilometers away? The answer is the pitches of the ground present here.
A report in the Indian Express states that the Anantapur ground is considered to be the fortress of India's fastest pitch. Even though no major cricket has been played here in the last 11 years, before that, first-class matches were played here for about 10 years and then fast bowlers dominated here, who wreaked havoc on the batsmen. Some statistics have also been cited in the report - in the 15 first-class matches played on this ground between 2004 and 2013, 345 wickets were taken by fast bowlers, while spinners took only 96 wickets. Can this be said for any other ground in India?
High-bounce pitches like Perth and Adelaide
With the help of the Andhra Pradesh Cricket Association, an NGO that operates this ground, which built this entire ground and facility to promote mental and physical development of local people through sports. Also, pitches made of black soil were prepared, which were made scientifically based on the pitches of Australia and South Africa, which is why they have been getting speed and high bounce. In the report, quoting the director of RDT, the operating organization of this ground, it has been said that the behavior of the pitch here is exactly like the pitches of grounds like Perth and Adelaide in Australia, which have been said to be helpful for high speed and bounce.
Not just bowling, batting also needs to be tested
5 out of 6 matches of the Duleep Trophy will be played on different pitches on this ground, while the first match will be played in Bengaluru.
On these pitches, the Indian Board and selectors will keep an eye on the performance of fast bowlers like Arshdeep Singh, Khalil Ahmed, Avesh Khan, and Prasidh Krishna because the entire burden cannot be put on only Bumrah, Shami and Siraj in Australia. Especially the experience of the last tour must have been remembered when Shami and Bumrah got injured and the team had to enter the Gabba ground with completely new fast bowlers. Not only fast bowlers, but the board will also keep an eye on the batsmen to see how and for how long they face such situations because in Australia not only good fast bowlers are needed but also batsmen who can play the opposing pacers well are needed.