Cricket

IND Vs BAN 2nd Test: Suspense Over Pitch Continues As Two Strips Laid At Green Park Stadium

Reports suggest that one is the usual black soil Kanpur pitch which stays slow and low and assists spinners as the game progresses. The other reportedly is a surface less dry than usual where the ball might zip like it did in Chennai

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Indian players Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin and coach Gautam Gambhir. Photo: AP/Vijay Verma
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Both India and Bangladesh remain unsure of the pitch on which the second Test between the two sides will be played as the ground staff at Kanpur's Green Park Stadium have laid two different surfaces. (More Cricket News)

Reports suggest that one is the usual black soil Kanpur pitch which stays slow and low and assists spinners as the game progresses. The other reportedly is a surface less dry than usual where the ball might zip like it did in Chennai.

Representatives from both the sides said they had no idea about which pitch will be used.

"I don't know which surface we are going to play on yet. But both the pitches look pretty good. Kanpur is often known to have good pitches. I am not sure about the bounce yet" India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar said.

"With the conditions and the forecast, it is going to be interesting as to how when we turn up to go in the morning, the conditions are. A lot will depend on that. It is too early for us to judge and decide or have any sort of thought process on the pitch or the conditions," he added.

"Yes I had a look at [the pitch]," Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe had said. "But the groundsman has prepared two pitches. We don't know on which we will play on. Tomorrow we will find out."

Curator Shiv Kumar had said that the pitch would be a bit like Chennai.

"There will be that Chennai match feeling. It will have something for everyone. It will offer bounce in the first two sessions and it will be pretty good for batting for the first two days. Then, the spinners will come into play on the last three days," curator Shiv Kumar told PTI.

Both teams played three seamers in their playing 11 in the first Test which India won by 280 runs. However, if the pitch assists spinners, they might be tempted to bring in an extra spinner into the side.

India had played three spinners when they last played in Kanpur in 2021 against New Zealand. However, with the weather expected to be overcast, both teams are still brainstorming their final elevens.