Decoding the diabolical Nagpur wicket in the World T20

The VCA Stadium in Nagpur has sighted some of cricket’s finest players. Even some of the Indian Premier League matches have been played at the vastly expansive venue. It’s rather strange sometimes how a sporting venue can become a blacklisted or a haunted hunting ground following one bad result. India’s loss to New Zealand in the inaugural match of the World T20 2016 has seen the VCA stadium become, quite literally, a ‘haunted’ venue.

Once a center for commercialism in India, Nagpur has thus fallen behind Maharashtra cities Mumbai and Pune in the developmental stages. Cricket is perhaps just the one thing that survives on in the former ‘city of dreams’. India’s fifth straight loss against a familiar foe – New Zealand brought back memories of Ian Chappel’s side touring England for the Ashes in 1971-72. As Greg Chappel wrote following the events of the match, “It was uncanny that it only attacked a strip 22 yards by eight feet and the rest of the ground was perfectly healthy. Quite a coincidence, too, that England had selected two spinners for the match.”

Fast forward to 2015. Virat Kohli’s job was crystal clear. He was to lead India to triumph in the Test series against the best team in the world. The Proteas had powered their way to series wins over the Indians in the limited-overs’ series. Therefore, it was crucial that Kohli and his side picked up a victory in the Test series. Things came to an unprecedented halt in the third Test at Nagpur. The outfield was lush green, perhaps the greenest grass I have ever seen in India. In the middle of the vast outfield was a torrid yet brown surface. Cracks, footmarks. and dryness was evident on the wicket.

The Indians’ picked up what seemed to be a regulation win. In a horrific similarity with the events of 1972 Headingly, the Indians went with just one pacer – Ishant Sharma. Sure enough, all of the 20 South African wickets were claimed by spin. Ashwin ended up with 12 of those wickets. Hashim Amla, the skipper of the side and perhaps the best player of spin in the world, was quoted saying, “The surface was probably the toughest that I have had and the cricket itself was really difficult. Credit to India, they kind of bowled well. Unfortunately, we ended up on the wrong side of this game.” A diplomatic yet disappointing tone with which Amla delivered these words finally caught the ears of the ICC.

What was worse, the match concluded on Day 3. The dying art of Test cricket maybe? Food for thought. Probes from the ICC and Jeff Crowe did little to spring up any action into the diabolical Nagpur wicket. A statement from the BCCI, the most powerful cricketing organization in the world read, “he assessment that the Nagpur pitch was “poor” was not right, and that the BCCI was going to contest it strongly. “The report says the ball ‘spun’ on day one,” he said on the sidelines of the IPL Governing Council meeting in Delhi. “It says ‘excessive turn’ only for day three.”

The World T20 began on the 8th of March at the 45,000 seat stadium in Nagpur. While there has always been excitement and a stern buildup to an ICC event, the fanfare was in an all-time low this time. The start of perhaps the ICC’s biggest event of 2016? I don’t think so. Jarrod Kimber, one of Australia’s most prominent journalists put it in a rather satirical manner. “Starting a tournament on a Nagpur pitch is like inviting your friends to your wedding at the tax office”

However, despite the wicket, the Indian team seldom plays in front of an empty stadium. The VCA was packed to the rafters to witness India’s 47-run loss to the Kiwis. While the Kiwis batted, each wicket was greeted with a wave of cheer from each of the 40,000 odd Indian spectators in the crowd. The excitement was brought to an abrupt halt after the Kiwi spinners’ prowl over the Indian batsmen was complete.

The Indians simply did not have answers to Santner, Nathan McCullum and Ish Sodhi. Ironically, none of them turn the ball as viciously as R Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja. Yet, the Indian batsmen looked completely at sea. Was it just a bad coincidence or good bowling from New Zealand? Maybe it was the latter.

Since 2008, Ravichandran Ashwin has claimed 15 wickets at this venue. The top wicket-takers are always spinners while those attacks without spinners have been plundered for runs. Coincidence maybe? Nine of India’s 10 wickets fell to spin against New Zealand.

To conclude, Shane Watson’s take on the wicket was nothing short of extraordinary. “Yeah look gosh, I am not sure I have seen a wicket turn as much as it did last night. That was incredible. Obviously, in the New Zealand innings, the ball turned quite a bit but when New Zealand was bowling, goodness me the ball turned a hell of a lot. Indian players are very good players of spin, but, I am not sure if they were hoping for those conditions exactly.” If irony has any place here, Shane Watson made these comments from Dharamsala, a place where the pitch conditions churn out an even contest.