Where is the Mohali pitch headed?

There used to be a time when the pitch in Mohali was considered to be the best in India for fast bowlers. There was more bounce and the winter in the north assisted the seam bowlers more than the spinners. But that is the thing of the past and this pitch is no different from the ones we have witnessed in the recent past. The early morning chill ensured that the surface felt a little cold on the palm but the soil underneath wore the look considered ideal for spinners. Some of the cracks were moving even before the first ball was bowled. These cracks are expected to not only crumble but I'm anticipating some of the pieces to come off completely. Toss, once again, is crucial.

A young Test career always gives constant opportunities to follow the developing patterns. If you looked at Haseeb Hameed's wagon-wheel against the Indian quicks in this series, you will find that most of his runs have come behind the stumps. Since fast bowlers try to bowl fuller around the off stump with the new ball, most openers are competent drivers. Hameed's fledgling career is suggesting that while he is aware of where his off stump is (leaves a lot of balls alone), he is a reluctant driver. Perhaps, it is worth trying bowling a yard fuller to him in the outside off channel early on.

Joe Root's dismissal highlighted the importance of judging the length while playing against spin. The ball that got rid of him was too full to go back to and the same happened a few times with Jonny Bairstow against Jayant Yadav. The cardinal rule of batting is that if you have misread the length, do not commit the second mistake by playing an attacking shot. Root did that and lost his wicket. Bairstow was fortunate because whenever he went back to a full ball, he tried to play with a straight bat.

The third ball of the 47th over, from R Ashwin, was well flighted and pitched full outside off, and that tempted Bairstow to attempt a cover drive. The ball turned sharply to find the inside edge and went back to Ashwin. The following delivery was on the same length, albeit a little closer and flatter, and that made the ball go straight after pitching. The variation was enough to induce another false cover drive. This time the ball kissed the outside edge. Unfortunately, Parthiv Patel failed to pouch it.

Both in Rajkot and Vizag, fast bowlers from both sides were liberal in using the short-ball trap. Not that both the pitches were seamer friendly but there was definitely more response from those pitches as compared to the one we have seen in Mohali. Even though India picked Moeen Ali with a bouncer, they used it very sparingly. The impression we got from outside was that the pitch is a little too low and slow, for the batsmen were getting enough time to ride the bounce. But then don't form an opinion till both teams have bowled on the pitch.