Sanjeev Kumar
khelja|20-05-2026
Team India will not play on such a pitch! (Photo- PTI)
Indian Test Team: The one-off test match between India and Afghanistan will be played in New Chandigarh from June 6. BCCI has recently announced Team India for this match. This match is not part of the race for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. In such a situation, the management of the Indian Test team led by head coach Gautam Gambhir has taken an important step before this match, which can strengthen Team India in home conditions.
Team India will not play on such a pitch!
Gautam Gambhir has not yet got much success as a Test coach in the red ball format.
After the embarrassing defeats at the hands of South Africa and New Zealand, the team's performance on the home ground has also been disappointing, due to which India's position in the WTC points table has weakened. The problem of the Indian team not being able to take advantage of the home conditions remains the biggest challenge. During Gambhir's coaching tenure, he has faced defeat in five of the last seven home tests. Indian batsmen have been seen struggling against the opposition bowlers on pitches conducive to spinners, due to which many foreign teams have registered historic victories in India.Due to poor performance on home grounds, changes may be seen in the pitches. According to Times of India, Gambhir's team management has now demanded such pitches which do not deteriorate rapidly in the initial days of the match. Emphasis is being laid on preparing pitches with more quantity of black soil instead of pitches with red soil. Black soil retains more water, due to which the pitch lasts for five days and there is not much turn from the beginning.
Venues selected according to new strategy
Venues like Mullanpur, Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi and Ahmedabad have been selected for the upcoming home Test matches.
Red, black and mixed soil options are available at these places, but the pitches will be made such that they remain playable for a long time. This will not only provide better opportunities to the Indian batsmen, but will also reduce the problem of matches ending early, which is also beneficial for the broadcasters. This strategy will be implemented for both the one-off Test against Afghanistan and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Gambhir and his team aim to re-establish dominance on home ground and keep their hopes of the WTC final alive.
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