Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane combine to expose Gautam Gambhir's tactical sh*t show, come down hard
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Legendary Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has joined hands with former Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane to provide an insight into India's recent struggles with rank turners. He has also mentioned grounds where rank turners do work in favour of the Indian team.
India faced a humiliating defeat against the Proteas in the first Test at the Eden Gardens. The loss was attributed entirely to the overspinning conditions at the Eden Gardens and the lack of adequate bounce.
However, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir accepted the fact that they wanted the Eden Gardens pitch to be a rank turner and got just what they wanted. However, later Sitanshu Kotak claimed that they did not expect such things to happen, as the low bounce was never in demand.
Ravichandran Ashwin reveals why Eden Gardens is not a suitable pitch for rank turners
Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has mentioned the exact reasons why the idea of a rank turner at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata was a rubbish idea, and India should have taken the advice from the CAB President and the pitch curators in Bengal.
The pitch not only deceived the batters with a considerable amount of spin but was also considered flawed due to its lack of bounce. The balls were often kept low and spun sharply as they turned unplayable for the batters.
"If you want the wickets to spin, the wickets should spin. There is no doubt about that. But when there is spin, there should be bounce; in India, spin and bounce do not always go at the same venue. Like in Kolkata, if you try to spin the ball, it will keep low because that is the nature of the soil there," clarified Ravichandran Ashwin.
Ashwin-Rahane suggests tracks offering consistent spin in India
After pointing out why Eden Gardens does not offer the amount of bounce that is much needed for a spinning track, Ravichandran Ashwin gave insights on the ideal venues where rank turners could emerge as a possibility.
"If you really want balls to spin well, rank turners can be formed in venues like Mumbai, Chennai, maybe in Hyderabad as well. While in Delhi the ball can spin well due to the moisture early in the morning," added Ravichandran Ashwin when he picked venues offering good spin-friendly conditions.
"Expecting wrong things in the wrong venues is what the problem is," Ashwin concluded.
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Feared by the Eden Gardens results, Indian curators didn't go for a rank turner in Guwahati
Fearing the results at the Eden Gardens, the Indian management, as well as the BCCI pitch curators, did not dare to go for another spin-friendly track in Guwahati. Though the pitch offers relatively less spin, it is not a batting paradise either.
India picked 7 wickets until the start of the second session on Day 2 of the Guwahati Test, of which 5 were between spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav. However, the ball has been coming nicely onto the bat and has offered some spin at times as well. This kind of pitch is ideal for red-ball cricket in the subcontinent.
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India National Cricket Team South Africa National Cricket Team India vs South Africa South Africa vs India Ravichandran Ashwin Ajinkya Rahane Gautam Gambhir BCCI
