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The subcontinent teams, i.e., India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, have seen a shift towards spin pitches in the last couple of years. While the argument is that it is to support the home bowlers and play to the strength, the strategy has backfired more often than not.
India lost 0-3 to New Zealand in October-November last year, while Sri Lanka lost 0-2 to Australia in the recent Test series. Pakistan, on the other hand, managed to win the home series against England 2-1 (last year) with proper rank-turners in the last two Tests—their first series win in the last two years.
Former Sri Lanka skipper and batting great Marvan Atapattu, however, believes that this spin track strategy can boomerang too.
Spin tracks can boomerang on home side
"My belief is that if you come to a crunch situation, you can throw out something unplayable in terms of spin or pace, for that matter, but it hits back at you when you have your own batters struggling against spin or pace. So unless you try and play cricket on good wickets, at least in the longer version, prepare them to adapt to the situation as you go along," said Atapattu while talking to WION on the sidelines of a charity match on Saturday (Feb 8).
"Not just have a spinning wicket or seaming wicket from ball 1 of a Test match. That gives everybody a chance (good wicket); that is something I believe in. If you need to nurture batters, you need to give good wickets; if you need to nurture good bowlers, you need to give them good wickets."
"Let them have the wicket they want on day 4 or day 5, but you throw any bowler on a wicket that is turning square on day 1 - no bowler becomes a bowler, then you come to the wrong assumption, you take him abroad, put him on a good pitch, then he takes no wickets, and that'll be the end of his career. So, it is a very tricky situation where playing to your home strength can boomerang on you," added the former Lanka skipper.