English conditions bring a certain romanticism to cricket. The love affair — actually a love triangle between heavy weather, hard and grassy pitch, makes the ball create such amazing drama on the field that it literally bowls you over. Foray Sport brings you the pitch report and how Team India bowlers can make an impact on them
SophiaGardens, Cardiff
It is one of the most beautiful cricket grounds in the world. Generally, the moisture and overcast conditions decide the nature of the pitch here. If it is moist and overcast, one can expect the faster bowlers to play a major role. Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma, because they have pace, should be very effective on this pitch. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will also get good purchase.
But if it is dry and sunny, it will be an intelligent decision to include an extra spinner because they would gain due reward on the surface if they bowl well. Here, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will need to raise their hands and take the responsibility to lead India to a victory. Though Amit Mishra, despite his recent form, is unlikely to play, he gives skipper MS Dhoni a safe option if such a need arises.
Whether the skipper who wins the toss decides to bat or bowl first depends entirely on the weather conditions.
The Oval, london
Here, the pitch has something for everyone. If the batsmen find it easy to score runs, seamers are encouraged by the pace and bounce of a dry surface. That will also keep the spinners interested. And because it’s England, the ball will swing like at all other venues.
Dhoni is not known for tinkering with the winning combination, so it is unlikely that he will add another seamer or spinner for his second Group Stage match in the Chhampions Trophy.
The onus will again be on the pace trio and spin duo to either defend
the total or stop the opposition from setting a big one.
Since the pitch here is full of runs, Indian bowlers will need to think on their toes and come up with ideas to stop rival batsmen — one of them will be Chris Gayle. He is one of those who not only scores but scores like a hurricane, destroying the bowlers completely.
Edgbaston, Birmingham
Since the pitch here is full of runs, Indian bowlers will need to think on their toes and come up with ideas to stop rival batsmen.
If Amit Mishra has any hopes of rolling his arm in England, it is here. Historically, the pitch here has always been on the slower side. But again, Dhoni is expected to stick to the three-pacer-two- spinner combination.
Faster bowlers Umesh, Ishant and Bhuvneshwar will have to bowl cleverly. Though overhead conditions, if predominantly cloudy, help pacers get swing, they will have to rely on yorkers and change of pace instead of pace and swing if the sun stays out during the match. Since India is scheduled to play Pakistan in their last league encounter here, the dry pitch promises an interesting battle considering that both the teams are known to play spin well. India will have to take care of Saeed Ajmal.