'We didn't expect the pitch to play that low on Day 2' - Paras Mhambrey on Ranchi surface

The ongoing fourth Test match between India and England in Ranchi has witnessed an unexpected twist. Contrary to expectations, the surface being used for the contest displayed a significant variable bounce that caught the hosts off guard. India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey candidly admitted that the team didn’t expect the ball to keep so low from the opening day of the Test. 

England’s spin duo of Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley exploited the conditions effectively as India’s middle order looked to be in trouble on Day 2. After bowling out the visitors for 353 runs, India lost the wicket of skipper Rohit Sharma in the third over of the innings. Youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill built a crucial partnership, but the latter got out after scoring 38 runs, which led to a collapse of India’s batting unit.

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Bashir and Hartley relentlessly attacked the stumps, exploiting the pitch’s tricks, which troubled the Indian batters. Speaking about the nature of the surface, Mhambrey stated that the team management expected the surface to be slower as the game progressed, but didn’t expect it to play so low.

“From the couple of games that we have seen out of here previously, generally, the nature of the wicket gets slower and slower as the days progress. In the past also, in the couple of games that were played here, it has got slower and gotten on the lower side as well. So we expected that,” Mhambrey was quoted as saying by India Today.

“But to be honest, we didn't expect the pitch to play that low on Day 2 itself. I think a couple of balls did keep low in the first innings also. That's what we didn't expect. We expected it to get slower, but not the variable bounce that we have seen over the last couple of days,” he added.

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India, despite their efforts, struggled to cope with the unpredictable nature of the pitch. At stumps on Day 2, they were 219 for 7, trailing by 134 runs. They started Day 3 in a brilliant fashion as Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav looked rock solid with the bat.