Winning the toss may hold the key in the October 8 ODI between India and Australia as pacers are expected to get some early advantage on the re-laid track.
CHANDIGARH: Winning the toss may hold the key in the October 8 ODI between India and Australia as pacers are expected to get some early advantage on the re-laid track of the Sector 16 cricket stadium here.
"As the mornings here are turning pleasantly cold, there should be good seam movement in the wicket, especially during the first 15 overs, which the batsmen will have to play carefully," curator Daljit Singh, who is also chairman of the grounds committee of BCCI, told here on Wednesday.
He said though the wicket had been relaid three years ago, but lot of work has been done on it in view of the next week's ODI, which will be the first international match to be played on this ground after a gap of 14 years.
"We are giving final touches to the wicket and one can hope for a good game on this. We have spruced it up and top dressed the three centre wickets and the old grass has been taken out."
"We are using the same grass and soil, which we use in PCA, Mohali track, which has earned a great reputation worldwide," he said.
Asked if spinners can be expected to extract something from the wicket, Singh said, "Aussie wrist spinner like Brad Hogg may get some advantage. However, for finger spinners, they may have to toss the ball up to get any benefit. Still, it depends on the conditions on the playing day".
The weather during this period in Chandigarh is pleasant, with bright sun shine during the day. The maximum temperature settles close to 34 degrees celsius. However, the nights are cool, with minimum settling around 16 degrees celsius.
While Sector 16 stadium is the home ground for Yuvraj Singh, off spinner Harbhajan Singh, who comes from Jalandhar, has also the advantage of having played here as a youngster.
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