The fourth and final Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Suspense remains about how the pitch will be in the match. It is very important for India to win the Ahmedabad Test in order to reach the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

India will reach the final of the WTC as soon as they win the Ahmedabad Test and will not have to wait for the results of the New Zealand-Sri Lanka Test series. BCCI had made spin friendly pitches in the last 3 Tests, so it has to be seen how the pitch of the fourth Test will be.

Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) officials said that they have not received any instructions regarding the pitch from the Indian team management. Pitch curators are involved in preparing a general pitch. In such a situation, the pitch will be exactly the same as it was during the Ranji Trophy matches in the past. In the next story, we will know how the Ahmedabad pitch will be and how India’s Test record has been on this ground.

Questions were raised on the pitch of the third test
The third Test played between India and Australia at the Holkar Stadium in Indore ended on the third day itself. The game of 15 sessions could last only for 7 sessions. 31 wickets fell in the match, out of which 26 were taken by the spinners. After which cricket experts and fans raised questions on the pitch. On the other hand, the International Cricket Council (ICC) also gave ‘Poor’ rating to the pitch of the stadium.

The main reason for this was that the spinners got a lot of help on the pitch. There was no equal match between the batter and the bowler here. The ball was pressing from day one, uneven bounce was also seen. At the same time, no swing or seam movement was seen on it. Due to some of these reasons, questions were raised on the pitch of the Indore Test.

Now let’s talk about Ahmedabad…

Team India won 6 matches in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium was completed in 2021. Here Team India has played only 2 Tests so far. Before this stadium there was Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad. By breaking which the new stadium has been built. India played 12 Test matches at the old stadium.

India played its first match at Ahmedabad Stadium in 1983 against West Indies. Overall Team India played 14 matches in Ahmedabad. Won 6 and the team got defeated in 2. 6 matches were also drawn in this city. The most runs on this ground are in the name of Rahul Dravid. He has scored 771 runs in 7 matches here. Whereas, Anil Kumble has taken maximum (36) wickets.

Last Test match was played in 2021
India played a 4 test match series against England in 2021. 2 out of 4 Tests were played in Ahmedabad. India got spin advantage in that entire series. India won both the Tests against England in Ahmedabad. The first Test played in Ahmedabad was over in 3 days. On the other hand, the second test got over in just two days. In both the Tests, the spinners dominated, especially Akshar Patel who trounced the English batsmen.

How will be the Ahmedabad pitch?
According to PTI, pitch curators can prepare the same pitch for the India-Australia match as used in the domestic season. The last match at Ahmedabad Stadium was of Ranji Trophy on 24 January 2023. In this, the teams of Railways and Gujarat were face to face.

The pitch proved to be more effective for the batsmen during the Ranji Trophy match. Batting first, Railways scored 508 runs in the first innings. Then the pacers got 12 out of the total 30 wickets. Like the Ranji match, if the pitch is found for the fourth Test as well, then both the teams will have chances to score a lot of runs this time.