Ind vs Aus Test Series: All set and rolling

India skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid inspect the Holkar Stadium pitch at Indore yesterday. Pic/PTI

More than anything else, it's the 22-yard pitch prepared for a cricket game that largely decides how things pan out.

The first question in the minds of players, coaching staff, media and learned fans is what type of a wicket would be provided by the curator. Will it be sporting enough to balance out the contest or will it be blatantly in favour of the home team that will have the opposition act like cats on a hot tin roof, like the Australians did in the first two Test matches at Nagpur and New Delhi? Going by the outcome of the first two games, there is no reason for the Indian think-tank to change the strategy with the home team still required to win the third Test to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series and ensure their spot in the World Test Championship final at The Oval in London in June.

The curator of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA), Samandur Singh Chauhan is reputed to produce brilliant batting tracks, but those are for white-ball cricket. It was on pitches prepared by him at Gwalior and the Holkar Stadium here that witnessed the first two double centuries in ODI cricket. Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 200 against South Africa at Gwalior on February 24, 2010 and Virender Sehwag's 219 against West Indies here on December 8, 2011 are still fresh in memory.

Initially, there were reports that the Holkar Stadium's curator was preparing a red-soil pitch for the third Test match, set to begin tomorrow. But there were fears that it may have a bit more bounce and carry than a black-clay soil pitch and that could even out the contest between both teams. Like it was seen in the T20 match against New Zealand at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow last month when India struggled to chase 100 runs on a red-soil pitch and the curator faced much flak and was sacked. It's apparent that he became the fall guy despite the fact that he had already prepared a black soil track, but was asked to change the track just two days before the match.

Similarly, in Indore, the curator had given the option between a red and black clay pitch. The team management has reportedly opted for the latter. What the implications are going to be with the clay pitch will be known once the match gets underway. But one thing is clear, there is going to be no respite for the flummoxed Australian team.

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In the past, we have known curators backed by the respective state associations, who used to prepare pitches to their own liking, on which the Indian team had to eat humble pie. Two instances come readily to mind - Mohali against West Indies in 1994 when Manoj Prabhakar was hit on the nose and India lost the deciding game, enabling the visitors to level the series. Then in Nagpur, where then skipper Sourav Ganguly reportedly opted out of the Test match against Australia in 2004 due to injury after seeing a green top and India went on to lose that game. This type of situation, which goes against the interests of the team's requirement is unlikely to happen in present times.

2
No. of Test matches played at Indore's Holkar Stadium. India have won both