“When the sun comes out, it might flatten out. Everybody knows the kind of pitch South Africa want. The grass should help with that,” said Newlands curator Evan Flint.
When it comes to a green wicket, there are different possibilities. Will it stay ‘green’ for the entirety of a Test? Is it just a top-layer green and will flatten out with two days of sunshine? Or, is it the unplayable kind, where the moving ball will make fools out of quality batsmen? Oddly, even host teams tend to get worried at the prospect of a green-top.
Tough as it might be to believe, India have indeed played on three green-tops since 2015. And funnily enough, they have covered all of the above – Colombo (SSC, 2015) where the ball swung throughout the game, St. Lucia (2016) and more recently in Kolkata, wherein the visiting Sri Lankan team management deemed it nearly ‘unplayable’.
Yet, there is something different about the green top here at Newlands, talk of the town that is still reveling in holiday mood. There is a prevalent drought in Cape Town. Each citizen has been prescribed maximum 87 liters of water daily and asked to conserve more.
Even so, the pitch was watered heavily on Tuesday evening with less than 72 hours to go for ball one. On Wednesday afternoon then, the wicket was subject to amusement – the unmistakable green sprinkling, a light brownish wet tint, and a lot of talk. “The pitch is quite green, but it is more a mental game than anything else. Our preparation has been good and we are looking forward to day one,” said Murali Vijay, on his third visit to South Africa.
“The pitch is quite green, but it is Newlands. I have played all my life here, have seen a lot of similar wickets and they haven’t done much,” said Vernon Philander, who has made a fine career starting out at this ground.
Earlier in the morning, Vijay had spent quite a while batting in the nets. There were two, in fact, to provide for an all-round preparation to the visitors – a center-wicket net, just adjacent to the match wicket, where all batsmen had a go in batting order, mostly against Indian bowlers. And the usual practice nets, behind the grandstand, where each of them went in for a 20-minute hit against Sanjay Bangar’s throw-downs and local bowlers.
Interestingly, Bangar marked out a square area on the pitch using four yellow cones and almost 90-95 per cent of his throw-downs to Vijay landed in this zone.
The opener, on his part, chose to leave most of them. Clearly, he was sharpening the 2013 ploy of leaving as many deliveries against the new, moving ball. “There has to be a balance though,” Vijay said later when asked about it. “You cannot go into a Test thinking that you are going to leave so many balls. If there is an opportunity to score, you have to take it. If they bowl tight lines, you have to be able to counter it. This is the balance with which we have to progress and I am opening myself up more this time.”
Four years ago, on a cloudy Johannesburg day one morning, Vijay had batted for 69 minutes and faced 42 balls. He scored only 6 runs. Take his words in this light and you know where he is coming from. In fact, it is in-line with the thinking of this team management – they want to take the game to the opposition at all times. They want to treat each game as a ‘home game’, and letting players get accustomed to this mentality is the key.
Take, for example, Shikhar Dhawan’s routine on Wednesday. Having shrugged off his ankle worries, he batted for nearly the same time as Vijay (in both nets) and later practice separately against throw-downs aimed at his chest. He was opening himself up for playing the top-cut over point, and pulling the short deliveries with aplomb. Green or not, runs will be of paramount importance, and the Indian top-order understands this only too well.
Philander wasn’t impressed. “At Newlands, you will nick off more (against the new ball) than get bounced out. India have been playing at home for a long time. This is South Africa and it is a completely different ball game,” he said, questioning the visitors’ preparations (and lack of match practice) before the Test series.
Again though, the mental aspect comes into the picture. India don’t need Philander to pinpoint how conditions will be vastly different from what they have experienced in the last three years. What they need is to translate off-field talk into runs and wickets on the field, really prove that this is another ‘home’ series like coach Ravi Shastri has pinpointed. It is easier said than done especially without having faced a ball in anger, which is probably why Philander isn’t buying this in-your face tune from the visitors.
“We are going to see about that once they pass the first Test,” he said, when asked if this batting line-up – featuring the likes of Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Vijay of course – can cope better with pace than any Indian team before them. Alternately, you ask him about the exciting five-pronged pace attack India possess, and Philander is quick to point out that the key to success will be in ‘not playing names, but just the deliveries’.
His words underline the intense but bizarre build-up to this series. The world’s best Test side has come to these shores, yet South Africa are both confident and apprehensive at the same time. India too are pensive, but have succeeded in portraying the aura of a team that knows how to win irrespective of conditions.
It has resulted in a lot of chatter, centered around the colour ‘green’ in particular. The good bit, you might want to ask? Well, there is not long to go before all this talking stops.