Australia’s stand-in skipper Steve Smith on Wednesday claimed that the surface for the fourth and penultimate Test match against India in Ahmedabad would be slightly different to the first three pitches and said they would earn opportunities for greater totals on this wicket. On Thursday in Ahmedabad, the fourth Test match between India and Australia will get off. The hosts hope to advance to the ICC World Test Championship final with a victory.
Australia, who currently trails India 2-1, showed lots of heart by defeating their opponents by a wide margin of nine wickets in Indore to win their first Test match on Indian soil since 2017. “This wicket may be a little bit different. I just had a look at it then. Perhaps it may not spin as much from the first ball or the first day but I do think it will spin as the game goes on. So yeah, there might be opportunities for bigger totals on this wicket,” Smith said in a pre-match press conference in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Smith believes that the fourth Test pitch, in contrast to the first three, when the ball spun right away, might be the day’s flattest track. “Looks like probably of the four wickets we’ve seen so far, potentially the flattest on day one,” Smith added. The stand-in captain expects that as the game goes on, the dry heat will cause the pitch to break, giving the player a turn.
“Having said that, it’s I think 38 degrees out there at the moment, it’s pretty hot. Looks like it’ll dry out as the day goes on. One of the groundsmen said they might be watering it again today. So yeah, we’ll wait and see but in terms of the day before, it certainly looks like it’s likely to do less on day one than we’ve seen so far,” Smith added. “It’s just playing what’s in front of us really, obviously the scores haven’t been big throughout this whole series. India scored 400 In that first Test match and Rohit got 100 and 400 proved to be way too many,” Smith opined.
“We can only play what’s in front of us and it’s been those types of wickets where if you get up over 200 even it’s been a decent total. We’re not fussed or anything, we’ve never complained or anything about the wickets, we go out and play,” he said. Smith could not recall another instance in which he was unclear of the pitch he would be playing on. The issue that developed on Tuesday in Ahmedabad was caused by Australia leaving the field in the dark regarding which of the two pitches would be utilised for the last Test.
“[There] might have been a couple of [pitches] prepared maybe a bit longer out than two days but I can’t remember two days,” Smith said. “I didn’t go out and have a look in the afternoon but Alex Carey did. It looked completely different, a lot drier in the afternoon. It’s very hot here, 37 degrees, which gives it a chance to dry out and I think that the cover was on for a bit today. So they’re potentially worried that it’s drying out too much. It certainly changed in a few hours. Having a look today we’ll be able to potentially see what it’s going to do,” the 33-year-old added.