CHENNAI: As India's World Cup campaign shifts to Chennai, another black soil surface may await the co-hosts at the MA Chidambaram Stadium where they are scheduled to play Zimbabwe in a must-win Super 8s tie on Thursday.
The Suryakumar Yadav-led side has struggled to adapt to the conditions so far in the T20 World Cup. They managed to get across the line through the Group stages despite the lack of runs from Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma and the struggles against finger spinners in the first ten overs.
However, it all caught up to them in Ahmedabad when they chased for the first time. The defending champions suffered their first loss of the tournament at the hands of the 2024 runner-ups on a black soil pitch, and the margin of defeat has dented their net run rate (NRR) (-3.8) massively.
And now, they are one loss away from an early exit in a home World Cup. Facing Zimbabwe in Chennai and the West Indies in Kolkata next, the Gautam Gambhir-coached side will have to win both games and give themselves an NRR boost while hoping that South Africa remains unbeaten. But it may not be a cakewalk.
The centre pitch, likely to be used for the India-Zimbabwe game, is also a black soil surface. It has been used once before in the tournament, for the first match at this venue between New Zealand and Afghanistan. It was an 11 AM game where both teams fielded three spinners and as many pacers, with New Zealand chasing a target of 183 comfortably in 17.4 overs. The surface has not been used since and has a tinge of green as of Monday.
Having said that, the difference between Chennai and other venues in this World Cup is that the pitches have remained unused for the last six months, as the entire outfield was relaid. It means unlike Ahmedabad or New Delhi, the pitches have not gone through as much wear and tear, and it has shown in the totals so far.
In the six games played at this venue, four pitches have been used, and two of them were played on twice. The average first innings total is 187, and the average second innings total is 153. Teams have won chasing thrice and defending as many times. Interestingly, in the two night games played at this venue, the team that batted first won. The other pitch, apart from the centre wicket, which hosted only one game, is where the USA beat the Netherlands by 93 runs in the 7 PM game.
One of the things the Indian team management has reiterated through the tournament is the stark difference between these pitches and the flat surfaces on which they played bilateral series. An all left-handed top-order — Ishan Kishan, Abhishek, Tilak and Surya — have continued to struggle against spinners on tacky pitches. It has affected the entry points for middle-order batters as they have struggled to keep the momentum.
It is something batting coach Sitanshu Kotak spoke about after the loss against South Africa. “I don't think we should talk about slow and fast (batting approach). Yes, there is one. We need to think whether it’s eight an over or nine an over (in the middle-overs). Where can we execute that? Or, where can we target? We can think about that,” Kotak had said.
With two more days to go for the Zimbabwe match, India will have to figure out their best possible XI and approach to come out on top on Thursday.