The ground staff at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad revealed the first look of the pitch that will be used for the first Test between India and England starting January 25.
And by the looks of it, the surface is most likely to take a lot of turn from the first day itself. The pitch looks dry and might deteriorate rapidly over the course of the Test match which might not last the full five days.
No grass on dry pitch
The pitch curator has not left any grass on the surface which means that the ball will also not bounce a lot and in fact, the odd one might keep low from the second day onwards.
It may not be a high-scoring match as batters might struggle to cope with the turn. Expect both teams to score in the region of 280-350 in their first innings if batters apply themselves and stay patient at the crease.
India undefeated in Hyderabad
Team India is yet to lose a Test at this venue out with the hosts winning 4 and drawing one out of the 5 matches played here. This stat shows how difficult it is for visiting teams and their batters to tackle the Indian spinners in their own backyard.
Ashwin-Jadeja threat looms
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja's record at this venue is also something that the English team will be vary about.
Ashwin is the highest wicket taker in Hyderabad with 27 scalps from 4 Tests which includes 3 five-fors. Jadeja and Umesh Yadav are joint-second with 15 wickets each from 3 Tests.
England already have a taste of what these two can do from their past visits to India, and they will be worried, particularly about Ashwin.
They know that that no amount of preparation involving scruffing up pitches some 1600 miles away in Abu Dhabi will be enough to tackle this real menace, and in that sense, they will also need to tame the demons inside their own minds.
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Weather Report
On the weather front, fans can expect to see a full match if it lasts 5 days as there is no chance of rain in the city for now.
Temperatures are expected to range between 16-31 degrees, with a mere 2% chance of rain on Thursday and light cloud cover forecasted on Days 3 and 5.
