Pitch report: M Chinnaswamy stadium, Bangalore

Established: 1969
Capacity: 42000
Floodlights: Yes
Ends: Pavilion End, BEML End
Home Team: Karnataka, Bangalore Royal Challengers
Head Curator: Narayan Raju
Test History: 21 Tests (6 home wins, 6 away wins, 9 draws)
Last 10 Tests: 2 home wins, 4 away wins, 4 draws
Last 10 Tosses: 9 bat first (3 wins, 3 draws, 3 losses) 1 Bowled first (Draw)

Overview

The ground used to go by the name of Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium, but was renamed to honour former BCCI president and Karnataka administrator M. Chinnaswamy. There is no shortage of famous attractions in and around the stadium as it is flanked by Cubbon Park, a popular tourist destination in Bangalore, and Mahatma Gandhi Road, one of the city’s busiest roads.

The stadium became cricket’s 47th Test venue when India hosted the West Indies in 1974. The match also marked the debuts of Windies greats Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge, and later saw the debut century of Australia skipper Michael Clarke and India spinner Anil Kumble’s 400th Test wicket.

Last Time Out

Only one day of play was possible when the Proteas visited back in 2015 with the pitch like every other surface in that series offering Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin plenty of assistance.

AB de Villiers stood out with the bat making 85 as South Africa crumbled to 214 all out in 59 overs.

The India openers put on an unbeaten 80 before the rain set in for the next four days forcing a draw.

Happy Hunting Ground

Murali Vijay is India’s top runscorer at the venue of the current crop of players having hit 204 runs in three innings at the venue including a top score of 139.

Ishant Sharma leads the wicket-taking list for current players at the venue with his 12 scalps across 3 Tests.

None of the current crop of Australians were involved when they last visited Bangalore in 2010.

They Said

Proteas skipper Hashim Amla felt the surface was better than his team’s performance suggested saying: “If I had won the toss, I would have batted first anyway. I think it was a good wicket.

“We just didn’t get any partnerships going. AB was exceptional as always. Unfortunately no one stuck around with him long enough to post a big total.”

Weather Forecast

The weekend forecast looks good but isolated thunder showers are expected on days three and four.

Conclusion

We should see a return to a more traditional Indian wicket rather than the raging turner that greeted the teams in Pune but expect Ashwin and Jadeja to factor heavily.

Australia will be bouyed by their victory in the series opener but will have to put in another top draw performance if they are to leave Bangalore with a positive result.

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