Chepauk's pitch revolution: Pacers dominate in a spinners' paradise

NEW DELHI: Close your eyes for a moment and think back to some of the great spells at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The first two images that might come to mind could be young spinners – one bespectacled and another with a turban - mesmerizing batters like magicians.Narendra Hirwani bagged a 16-wicket haul against West Indies in 1986. In 2001, Harbhajan Singh took 15 wickets against Australia.Naturally, expectations were high for modern-day greats Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to dismantle the Bangladesh batting line-up at Chepauk, in keeping with tradition.However, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Akash Deep, the pacers, seized the spotlight, sharing eight wickets among them and defying historical expectations.Such dominance by pacers at this venue has been rare since the late 70s. In 1979, a trio of Kapil Dev, Karsan Ghavri, and Dhiraj Parsana took 11 wickets in India's three-wicket win over the formidable West Indians.Since then, Chepauk has typically been known as a spinner's paradise. Yet, a shift began earlier this year during the IPL when Chennai Super Kings played on a pitch with a touch of grass against Gujarat Titans.CSK defeated GT by 63 runs, with Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, and Mustafizur Rahman delivering noteworthy spells, while spinners like Jadeja and Rashid Khan had ordinary figures."It was a call made by skipper Ruturaj (Gaikwad) in his effort to maximize the resources within the CSK setup. Anyways, it was a change from the long-standing, set strategy of preparing slow tracks and using spinners to win (under MS Dhoni)," a source familiar with the move told PTI.The new red-soil pitch at Chepauk aligns with the Indian team's vision to give more practice to their pacers ahead of the crucial tour to Australia.Having a suitable pitch is one thing, but the ability to exploit it is another. Unsurprisingly, Bumrah led the way.Watching Bumrah set up Bangladesh's lower-order batter Taskin Ahmed was exceptional.After a series of short-length bumpers keeping Taskin on edge, Bumrah rattled his stumps with a fuller delivery.It was a brilliant mix of skill – delivering a toe-crusher after using the track to bowl unsettling short balls.Seasoned off-spinner Ashwin, who went wicketless, acknowledged the pitch's transformation, which Bangladesh pacers Hasan Mahmud and Taskin also utilized well."Chepauk is a place that we know. So, it's always special for me to play here. But in the past, when I played in the U-19 matches here, the wickets were always like this," Ashwin said."It used to be hard red clay, good bounce. I never saw that surface again. So, I'm really glad to see it back," he added.Bangladesh will now face a two-way challenge when they bat in their second innings.