Pitch report: Will India’s spin-heavy tactic backfire? How important is the sun, shadow and dew in Dubai?

The shadow of the gigantic concrete structure, slower in the day, slight dew in the night, bit of live grass and largely batting-friendly conditions…these are the key elements India have to factor in during their stay at Dubai where they will play all their Champions Trophy fixtures, which begins on February 19.

Only a week to go for India’s opening match against Bangladesh, one question lingers. Has India taken a gamble by including five spinners and just three seamers for the Dubai trip. The question is not bereft of logic. Hosts Pakistan, who could possibly play two matches including the group fixture against India on February 23, and are more familiar with the conditions in the Emirates, have just named one specialist spinner. There, thus, hangs a sweaty intrigue.

Slow but varied

The three venues in UAE – Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi – although slow, offer varied conditions in their own way. Among them, the Dubai International Cricket Stadium has been the most unique one thanks to its huge concrete structure. “It’s a closed environment, so when it comes to Dubai a lot depends on which pitch you are playing,” former India player Robin Singh, who is familiar with the conditions thanks to his stint as the national coach of the UAE in the past, tells The Indian Express.

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“So, in Dubai, you have a centre wicket and then you have wickets to the side. So, the sun actually hits the wickets till about 3 to 4 o’clock in the evening. After that, it forms a shadow. So, the wickets to the left generally, it tends to be a little slower because you don’t get enough sunlight for long periods. The way the stadium is built, the sunlight is only there for a period of time. Of course, it will be warm because of the humidity and it will always bring dew into play. But dew is pretty early for that, so it’s not going to come down to toss,” adds Robin, who recently coached MI Emirates that featured in the ILT20, which concluded last Sunday.

His state-mate Hemang Badani, who was the head coach of Dubai Capitals that won the ILT20 title, says how they had to change plans in the second half of the season. “We stared with four seamers and two spinners, but towards the end we had to bring in an extra spinner as it got slower. Since it is still early part for the dew to set in, there was help for the spinners,” Badani weighs in.

In the seven ODIs that have been played in the month of February at the venue, only two have involved full members Pakistan and England. Both times, the chasing team emerged winners. But the sample size is skewed because the game happened back in 2012. When it comes to March and full member nations, both the matches were won by teams batting first. Out of the 58 matches the ground has hosted, only 22 have been won by teams batting first.

With Bumrah not around, and Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana far different from Mohammed Shami in terms of their lengths, it would be interesting to see how India goes about defending totals. If dew shows up, playing two wrist spinners (Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy) will be risk-fraught. If they chose to go with one, it would leave them short on attacking options, which India have preferred largely in recent times in ODIs.

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Good chance for Shami

With the stadium not having cross-ventilation, it also denies the seamers the opportunity to move the ball for long periods like they do at Abu Dhabi, which has large open fields, and Sharjah, where there are no huge structures. It means, the new ball could offer some help under lights, but unlikely to provide prolonged assistance for the seamers. “In the night, it has always shown a tendency to skid on. The dew is not extensive now, but it helps batting in the night. There will be runs for the taking. But if you’re a good fast bowler, at night, you can exploit those conditions. A good seam bowler, someone like Shami will be a good bet in Dubai because he hits those right lengths and areas. Anyone who can hit the seam well and hit those areas will be reasonably successful,” Robin adds.

This perhaps explains the reason why pacers have been more effective in Dubai than spinners. In the 58 ODIs played in Dubai, pacers have accounted for 463 wickets at an average of 28.62 at an economy of 4.78. The spinners have 320 scalps to show at an average of 30.17 at a slightly lower economy of 4.25.

Day time for spinners

With the matches starting at 2.30 PM local time, thanks to the dryness, it has usually been the best time to bowl if teams can overcome their aversion of fielding first under the afternoon sun. It is learnt that the curators have ensured that few of the pitches were not used in the second half of the ILT20 so that it remains fresh for the ICC event. “I think they have kept aside a few wickets that they would want to play on. Of course, they have to leave a fair amount of grass so that the wickets won’t turn or disintegrate. So, I think there will be good wickets to bat on. But definitely batting second is an advantage in Dubai. If you’re playing in the daytime and it goes into the night, it tends to be a little slower in the daytime,” Robin adds.

It explains why the venue has seen 300 being touched only on four occasions, with only one coming in the second. Being on the slower side doesn’t necessarily mean spinners would get more turn off the pitch. It has seldom turned square nor has the pitch crumbled because of the heat like we see in sub-continental conditions. “In the daytime, you will see the spinners get a lot of help from the surface. So it comes down to the depth of your batting and the strength of your bowling. The ball tends to travel a bit in Dubai. So if you don’t have a good attack in your hand, then your batting has to step up, which is why the batting depth is necessary. Three hundred will be a big enough total here,” Robin says.

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That explains why India brought in Varun Chakaravarthy in place of a batsman. They seem to have evaluated all these factors and sans Bumrah they know they have to shore up their batting. If that’s the case, two of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar are bound to fit into the XI with a toss up between Kuldeep and Varun for the third slot.

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