‘Potentially the flattest on day one’ – Steve Smith on Ahmedabad pitch ahead of final Test

Steve Smith PC. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Australia’s stand-in skipper Steve Smith believes that the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad may be the “flattest day one track”, as compared to the previous three surfaces of Nagpur, Delhi, and Indore. The two sides will lock horns in the final Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy on March 9, Thursday.

Australia advanced to the World Test Championship final despite trailing 1-2 in the four-match series. They will seek to gain an advantage over India by bringing the series back to even in the decider match. On the other hand, India needs to win the game in order to seal the last spot in the WTC final, and seal a date against Australia again in June later this year.

“Looks like probably of the four wickets we’ve seen so far, potentially the flattest on day one,” Smith told the media ahead of the Ahmedabad Test.

India dominated the Nagpur Test and defeated Australia by an innings and 132 runs to take an early lead in the series, and extended the lead to 2-0 by winning the second Test in Delhi. Indian all-rounders Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel were at their best as they contributed brilliantly across all departments.

This wicket may be a little bit different: Smith

Rohit Sharma’s century and Jadeja’s all-round brilliance helped India clinch a win in the opening Test, but the players could not replicate similar performances in the third game at Indore as the visitors got an upper hand. The last time India played at the Ahmedabad pitch, they handed the visiting England side an innings defeat and would be hoping to put forth a similar performance.

“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. 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 opined while speaking about the Ahmedabad Pitch.