KANPUR: Will it be strip five or six? That was the million dollar question when representatives from both India and Bangladesh inspected the pitches on the eve of the second Test here at the Green Park Stadium on Thursday.
With the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association preparing two pitches with black soil out of available nine, India skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir took a close look at them. For Bangladesh, head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe was the first to cast his doubts after he saw the two prepared pitches on Wednesday.
Uncertainty surrounding the surface meant the teams remained indecisive in regards to their playing XI. It will be interesting to see if the sides go ahead with the playing XI that featured in the Chennai Test or include an extra spinner given the use of black soil. Both teams had played three seamers and two spinners in the first Test.
"To be honest, I don't know which surface we are going to play on yet. Both the pitches look pretty good. Kanpur is often known to have good pitches. I am not sure about the bounce yet," Abhishek Nayar, India's assistant coach, said.
Even before the teams reached the city, the spotlight was on local lad Kuldeep Yadav, who didn't feature in the first Test. With the black soil not offering the same bounce as the red soil, like the one in Chennai, many were anticipating the left-arm wristspinner to play at his home ground for the first time. But it remains to be seen if that will be the case come Friday. Axar Patel is another spin option for Rohit and Co if they wish to go ahead with three spinners.
Moreover, the weather forecast also added to the confusion with chances of rain in the opening three days. It also rained on Thursday with Najmul Hossain Shanto-led Bangladesh side forced to end their nets session in just half-an-hour.
"With the conditions and the forecast, it is going to be interesting, when we turn up in the morning, how the conditions are. A lot will depend on that because as you know in Test wicket, conditions can be a huge factor in how the pitch plays. It is too early for us to judge and decide or have any sort of thought process on the pitch or the conditions. But we are hoping we come in tomorrow (Friday) to a sunny day and not an overcast Kanpur," said Nayar.
Nayar also spoke about KL Rahul, who has been averaging below-par in Tests so far. The Karnataka batter has 2901 runs from 51 matches with an average of 34.12.
"Sometimes it is just direction and I feel KL is someone who understands his game very well. In South Africa, he played tremendous knocks. We are very hopeful... the kind of combination that Gautam and I have had with him that hopefully, we can have a turnaround in KL as well. These things sometimes take time. But I feel the way he is batting, even in the last game, I know we did not end up giving him much of a shot in the second innings. And I am pretty sure going forward you will see the expectations and the performances that you have from him."
In the larger scheme of things, India have taken 1-0 lead and a win here will only strengthen their prospects of qualifying for the World Test Championship final.