Red-soil pitch awaits Tigers in Chennai?

Come September 19, Bangladesh could be greeted on a red-soil pitch in their first of the two-Test series against hosts India in Chennai, according to reports from The Indian Express — an English-language Indian daily.

Red-soil pitches usually offer a lot of bounce, with spinners always staying in the game as well. At home, Bangladesh usually play on black-soil pitch, which tends to keep low and stays much slower in nature.

India had already started their preparations for a busy schedule ahead, which includes as many as 10 Tests in the next four months — two against Bangladesh and three against New Zealand at home while five away to Australia.

According to The Indian Express report, India’s training session also reflected that they have been preparing for these upcoming fixtures. They chose net bowlers who have similar action and release point as Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam — the two left-arm spin options of Bangladesh — and New Zealand’s Ajaz Patel, Mitchell Santner, and Rachin Ravindra.

The report also included that the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill batted at the nets, with black soil pitches allotted to face spinners while pacers like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj had lined up at the other end.

It was also mentioned in the report that, with five days still to go before the start of the first Test, the pitch with a good grass cover at the MA Chidambaram Stadium was kept under covers to prevent it from breaking.

Even though Bangladesh have had success with their pacers recently, India might just opt to go for a seam-friendly surface as such a tactic worked for them when the last time they hosted Bangladesh in 2019 — defeating the Tigers by innings margin in both Tests in Indore and Kolkata, with pacers claiming a total of 35 wickets in that series.

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