No more rank turners? India to change pitch strategy for home Tests as WTC top-two finish looms
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "No more rank turners? India to change pitch strategy for home Tests as WTC top-two finish looms")
India to do away with rank turners for home Tests as WTC top-two finish looms Photograph: (AFP)
In a massive tactical shift, the BCCI and team management are officially ditching 'rank-turners' for home Test matches. Discover how recent home series defeats and batting struggles have forced India to change its pitch strategy ahead of the upcoming Test calendar.
The BCCI and the Indian Team management have mutually decided to do away with the 'rank-turner pitch strategy', which they kept deploying for years in search of dominance in Tests. And although they enjoyed immense success for over a decade, they were found wanting in home conditions (in the past 18 months) on similar tracks, urging the decision-makers to go back to playing on surfaces that wear and tear with passing days, not inside the first session.
A series whitewash (0-3) at the hands of New Zealand (in 2024) and another one almost a year later against South Africa (0-2) hurt India a lot. Not only did it break their bubble of always succeeding by preparing the rank turners, but it also dented their chances of climbing the WTC points table (this cycle). The Shubman Gill-led Indian Team currently sits in sixth place, one position below Bangladesh, which recently whitewashed Pakistan at home.
A Times of India (TOI) report claims that the New Zealand series blunder was an eye-opener, and with the Proteas series happening, it prompted the management to finally move away from preparing pitches that turn from day one. Multiple discussions have already taken place, having influenced the selection of venues for the forthcoming home Border-Gavaskar series in January 2027.
Sources close to the information reveal the board and management have gradually moved away from red-soil pitches that provide sharp turns, variable bounce and deteriorate from day one. Instead of chasing results from the word go, the think tank looks at the usage of black soil and mixed soil as the way forward. Besides, the Indian batter’s inability to play spin, contrary to the notion that they do it well, has also led to this decision.
"Mullanpur, Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi and Ahmedabad are the venues for India's next six home Tests, and they have been carefully selected keeping the pitches, soil and conditions in mind. Most of these venues offer red, black and mixed-soil options, but all of them can produce tracks that will last five days. Our batters haven't looked comfortable playing on turners that start breaking from Day 1, and early finishes are not broadcaster-friendly either," a source said, as quoted by TOI.
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Meanwhile, India will host Afghanistan for a one-off Test shortly after the IPL 2026 concludes, with Mullanpur staging that non-WTC match. India’s next Test assignment at home after this is a series against the West Indies later in the year, with the BGT 2027 being the marquee one.
