Adelaide [Australia], December 4: The chief curator of the venue’s pitch, Damian Hough, said that six millimeters of grass will be used for the pink-ball Adelaide Test between India and Australia in the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

India is coming into the Adelaide Test, which begins on December 6, with a psychological and physical advantage after a strong showing in the first Test, which was dominated by the bowling and leadership of Jasprit Bumrah.

The tourists, nevertheless, will also have to shake off the memory of the notorious 2020 Adelaide pink-ball Test, in which they were dismissed after scoring only 36 runs, their lowest Test score. That time, Australia had an easy goal of 90 runs to chase after Pat Cummins (4/21) and Josh Hazlewood (5/8) destroyed the Indian batting lineup.

“Everything seems to stay the same,” Hough stated while discussing the pitch and grass cover during the pregame news conference. Therefore, it is undoubtedly matter grass, with uniform grass cover and nice, deep hydration, but it is also hard and dry. Thus, spinners will be able to get some bite, turn, and bounce, while quicks will get a little out of it. However, it’s also critical that we establish some alliances with the players so that they can execute their shots. It should be around six. We are now at seven, but I predict that it will be six millimeters.

It might be challenging to bat under the lights with the new ball, according to Hough, even if the ground crew is working to create a pitch that could provide a great battle between bat and ball. This is particularly true given that both sides have strong bowling attacks.

Regarding the potential for a pitch to shift as the game goes on, like as when it went from being difficult to bat on to being easy during the Perth Test, Hough said that while he cannot foresee it, one always wants pitches to vary in Test cricket.

Additionally, he said that Adelaide’s pitch should be able to accommodate both pacers and spinners with the new ball while also helping hitters as it ages.

“Want to see a change? You do, of course. Over the course of the four or five days, it should evolve during test matches. Drop-in pitches are a little trickier.

“They (drop-in pitches) hold together so beautifully that there is no question about it. According to Adelaide tradition, the new ball should be able to do enough to grip the grass, bounce, and spin during the whole game. However, he said, “Hopefully, the players or the batters can form partnerships and score some runs as the ball gets older.”

India’s record-breaking 295-run triumph in Perth has put them up 1-0 in the BGT series. Adelaide will host the second Test in a day-night format starting on Friday.

Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, and Beau Webster are the members of the Australian team (for the second Test).

Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar are the Indian team.

Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal, and Mukesh Kumar are the reserves.