Kotla Win Satisfactory, But Pitch Far From It

India may have won their first Test match against West Indies but the knowledge that they were pushed to the limit and the tragic nature of the pitch would have put the spanners in the works.

Being made to toil as hard as they were for the win, by itself, wasn’t such a bad thing given the stern tests that lie ahead down under. But the worry was that it happened on a pitch that seemed tailored specifically for a sub-continent spinner.

The bigger worry emanating from the condition of the pitch was not that it was against the ICC’s recommendations of how the Test match tracks should behave but whether it will hold the Indian side in the stead it should on their tour of Australia.

As things stand, the chances of getting a track in Australia, half as slow as the one at Kotla, will be as high as Darrell Hair being made an honorary citizen of Sri Lanka.

Not that this is about the Kotla itself. There have been enough instances that show that expecting Kotla to metamorphose into a WACA-like pitch will be a foolhardy exercise. Instead, it can be used against those sides who throw their Wanderers, WACAs or Wellingtons at India on tour.

Eden Gardens and the Wankhede are the venues for the remaining two games in the series and barring the first day in either game, the pitches can be expected to assist the spinners. On most occasions, this will not be a bad thing given that I am a vocal supporter for tracks that help the home side. But I also feel the need to use these matches as warm-ups – no offence to the West Indies, but it is difficult to see them mount a comeback from here – to the tour of Australia.

Unfortunately, the inherent nature of the pitches cannot be changed overnight and that will mean that one can expect the remaining two games to have tracks fairly similar to what they have had in the past. Slow and difficult for the pace bowlers.

Unfortunately at that.