India vs Australia: Spin on everybody’s mind at Jamtha ahead of first Test

India and Australia have four frontline spinners each in their respective squad for the first two Tests along with a healthy dose of six net bowlers who are spinners for India and an equal amount for the Aussies as well, including a Ravichandran Ashwin lookalike. Add to that a dry pitch at the Jamtha which is in dire need of some gardening. And what you get is a cauldron, a piping hot cauldron ready to serve you the series opener of a potentially riveting Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23.

Australia had their first glimpse of the Jamtha centre wicket at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur after a four-day camp at Alur, Bengaluru to prepare for the potential turning tracks India will have on offer for them for this series. And what they saw would not have been a pretty sight. Adam Gilchrist in the famous, or rather the infamous Nagpur Test of 2004, has said that it was a pleasant surprise to see a green wicket for a series decider. 19 years on, what Pat Cummins saw just two days before the start of the series opener would have not been ‘pleasant’ by any stretch of the imagination.

An early look at the Nagpur pitch