What awaits India and Pakistan at RPS: Slow and spin-friendly pitch, difficult to hit through the line, a splash of rain

Sri Lanka’s Met department has also issued a special bulletin which may not be of good news for fans on either side of the border: “A low-pressure area is likely to form over the southeastern Bay of Bengal around February 15.”

As both teams assembled in Colombo ahead of the match of this T20 World Cup, India and Pakistan know they have to overcome pitch and the conditions foremost. Having already expressed their displeasure over the Wankhede surface, India’s high-flying batting unit that prefers to deal in six and boundaries, may not enjoy the surface here. You cant’ blame them either. Even Sri Lanka’s captain Dasun Shanaka had called for the pitch to be more batting friendly. “If you look at India you will see how good the pitches they are playing on,” Shanaka said.

“Some people have a problem with India scoring so many runs and ask why Sri Lanka can’t do the same. It totally depends on the conditions. I’d like to get a good track to show how I can bat, because it’s harder to showcase my striking ability on turning wickets,” he reflected on the surface.

But so far in this tournament, the Premadasa has played to its characteristics. In the first match, which was under lights between Sri Lanka and Ireland, out of the 40 overs, spinners delivered 25 of them. Spinners sent down 24 overs in the day/nighter between Australia and Ireland. On Friday, in the morning fixture where Australia lost to Zimbabwe, tweakers accounted for 19 overs. The total of 182/6 made by Australia against Ireland remains the highest.

Application, not aggression

In every match, teams that have managed to put a winning total achieved it through application, not because they went hammer and tongs. Hitting through the line – which the Indian batsmen prefer – isn’t going to be easy on this pitch. Unlike the teams that have played so far here at Premadasa, India and Pakistan arguably have two of the strongest spin attacks in the tournament. Unless batsmen are prepared to grind it out, this is not going to be a pitch where runs will flow.

For India, this should be a cause of concern as it has been a long while since they played on such a surface. One has to go back to Gautam Gambhir’s first series here in Sri Lanka, where India played a T20 on a slow, turning surface. Under lights, the Premadasa has a history of slowing down, but what the strip will do on Sunday is anyone’s guess.

On Friday evening, when they turned up for training, although they had the option of using the net facilities that sits adjacent to the stadium, they preferred an open net session on the two practice decks in the square. The dry surface with plenty of footmarks on it is definitely an exaggeration of the conditions they will face on Sunday, but they wanted to prepare for the worst. Understandably, it was their spinners who had a go at the batsmen.