First Test pitch 'terrible': Buchanan

John Buchanan, the Australian coach, described the pitch at Chinnaswamy Stadium as "terrible" as groundsmen scrubbed away the last remnants of grass with steel brushes and the head curator declared: "Spin."

The bone-dry wicket for the first Test at Bangalore could have passed for a 22-yard stretch of desert less than 48 hours before the first ball was due to be bowled on Wednesday, with a network of cracks running from one end of the barren surface to the other.

Sourav Ganguly claimed Australia was fretting about playing his side and said they would miss Ricky Ponting more than India would miss Sachin Tendulkar, but the craggy pitch overshadowed any attempts from Ganguly to begin a verbal stoush.

The track was obviously being groomed for Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble and possibly a third Indian slow bowler in Murali Kartik, but the kickback for Australia was that Shane Warne would also derive great benefit as he chases Muttiah Muralitharan's world wicket-taking record.

"By all reports it should hold together, but it looks terrible," Buchanan said. "It looks like it's going to break up. You're just not sure what's underneath, how much preparation.

"We suspect it will gradually dust up a little bit. Who knows what it will be doing on the fourth and fifth day. I wouldn't expect it to be breaking up on the third day. That sounds like a commentator's comment, doesn't it? There's probably a key lost down there.

"The upside is because it's abrasive one would expect the ball to reverse swing [for the fast bowlers]. And it should be a little bit up and down. It might skid, so the ball could shoot along a little bit. That's a positive for Warney."

Rahul Dravid smiled wryly but declined to share his thoughts on the state of the pitch before the Australian fast bowler, Michael Kasprowicz, said he could already feel a sore back coming on.

Australia's chairman of selectors, Trevor Hohns, said the curator's masterpiece was not a surprise and claimed it was unlikely to alter the makeup of the side, with Australia still expected to field three fast bowlers and Warne while giving young batsman Michael Clarke a Test debut. "It seems it's going to be hard work everywhere," said Hohns.

Tendulkar is yet to be formally ruled out of the Test with his elbow injury but seems certain to be unavailable alongside Ponting, whose broken thumb will keep him out of the series until the third Test at Nagpur.