Australian captain Steve Smith has been left baffled by the mystery surrounding the pitch for the fourth Test against India, with the tourists still unsure which surface they’ll be playing on.
Despite the fourth Test being less than 24 hours away, Smith and Australia’s camp isn’t sure which of the two pitches being prepared at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium will be used for the series finale.
One of the pitches being prepared has more black soil, while the other is red soil-based, and the Australian camp believes the Indian players have had an influence on which one will be used.
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“I can’t remember (with) two days out, not knowing which wicket we’re on,” Smith told reporters.
“The groundsman said 60 per cent (chance the Test would be played on) the black soil (pitch) and 40 per cent the red soil, and the boys are saying the percentages have gone up on the black soil as all the Indian players were looking at the black soil one when they arrived today.”
Incredibly, by the time Australia had completed their practice session, Smith was notified that the pitch appeared to have a “completely different” look.
“I didn’t go out and have a look in the afternoon but Alex Carey did,” Smith said.
“It looked completely different, a lot drier in the afternoon. It’s very hot here, 37 degrees, which gives it a chance to dry out and I think that the cover was on for a bit today.
“So they’re potentially worried that it’s drying out too much. It certainly changed in a few hours. Having a look today we’ll be able to potentially see what it’s going to do.”
Regardless of what wicket is served up by the curators, Australia appears all but certain to deploy a three-man spin attack for the second straight Test.
Smith was left baffled by calls for Australia to opt for its usual bowling combination of three pacemen and one spinner after the first two Tests, with the skipper calling the criticism of the team composition “mind-boggling”.
“It’s been weird with a bit of the commentary back home, people talking about us playing three quicks and one spinner,” he said.
“It’s kind of mind-boggling to me when we look at these surfaces and we see what we’ve had, 11 innings in six days or something like that, and spinners have taken the bulk of the wickets and you see how difficult it is to play the spin.
“It’s kind of odd to hear that kind of commentary, but we’ve had faith in what we’re trying to do and it’s good that we are able to show that we can play with three spinners and win. We weren’t too far away in Delhi either, outside of that hour of madness. Nice to know our plans and everything we are trying to do can work.”
The fourth and final Test of the series will get underway from 3pm AEDT on Thursday.
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