Chepauk’s red-soil pitch poses selection question for India: three seamers or three spinners?

Play three fast bowlers or three spinners? Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir will have to make that call when they sit down to finalise India’s XI for the first Test against Bangladesh, starting on September 19 in Chennai.

ESPNcricinfo has learned that the Chepauk pitch will be a red-soil one, with quality bounce and carry. The burning hot temperatures in Chennai, though, are bound to ensure spin will play the dominant hand as the Test grows old. However, the fast bowlers, it is understood, are expected to pose danger throughout the game as the pitch and the conditions are expected to facilitate reverse swing, too.

India are likely to play five bowlers, with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja being certain starters. The contenders for the fifth spot are Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep and Yash Dayal, the only left-arm seamer in the squad.

Incidentally, the last time India played three fast bowlers in a home Test was also against Bangladesh, in Kolkata in 2019. In fact, it is also the only home series since the launch of the World Test Championship where India loaded their XI with three fast bowlers. With the focus on getting a positive result and securing one of the top two positions on the WTC points table, thus ensuring a berth in the final, host teams have relied on their strengths. In India’s case, it has meant playing two seamers and three spinners.

The thought of playing a third fast bowler also emerges from India keeping an eye on the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, which starts in Perth on November 22. While Mohammed Shami, who is on the cusp of regaining match fitness, is expected to join Bumrah and Siraj for that, the selectors are keen to identify at least three more fast bowlers for the squad.

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There has been some chatter about whether India would use the Bangladesh series, and even the New Zealand series that follows, as a preparation ground for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. And whether the BCCI would instruct the curators to prepare seamer-friendly pitches. However, it is learned no such message has been sent by the board or the team management.

The nature of the pitches at Chepauk has completely changed since the last time India played a Test here – the first two Tests of the England series in 2021. England won the first Test on the fifth day on a pitch that the curator had promised would be a “typical Chepauk pitch with an English look”.

The Indian spinners were disgruntled by what turned out to be a flat surface. By the second Test, the default setting was restored and England failed to cross 200 in either innings as local hero Ashwin scored a century and picked a five-for and Rohit scored a majestic 161 to help India level the series.

The key difference between the two surfaces in 2021 was the nature of the soil. The pitch for the first Test comprised purely red soil and did not break until late in the match. The pitch for the second Test, though, had a base layer comprising red soil and a top layer of black cotton soil, which started to crumble under the sun, allowing Ashwin, Jadeja and debutant Axar to dominate.

Three years later, though, the surface at Chepauk is different. Of the nine pitches on the square, three are made of red soil brought from Mumbai. The Mumbai variant, used at the Wankhede stadium, is known for aiding true bounce for both fast and spin bowlers. India started their training on both red- and black-soil pitches available on the square at the MA Chidambaram stadium, but on Monday, they practised exclusively on a red-soil pitch. Bangladesh, who arrived in the city yesterday, have so far trained on a black-soil pitch.

The chances of India playing a third fast bowler are higher in Chennai than in Kanpur, the venue for the second Test. The Green Park pitch, which is made of black soil, has generally been a turning track.