Greenish Eden pitch promises bounce and carry

KOLKATA: Sri Lanka's support staff along with their skipper Dinesh Chandimal walked into the Eden Gardens when Team India were in the midst of their first practice session on Monday afternoon.
The covers were removed for the visiting party which included head coach Nic Pothas, batting coach Thilan Samaraweera, bowling consultant Rumesh Ratnayake, manager Asanka Gurusinghe and Chandimal.
What they saw left them completely bewildered. Few teams expect a pacer-friendly track at the Eden Gardens for a Test match as India have traditionally banked on their spinners to win matches at home. To be confronted by a 22-yard green top has its own shock value and the Sri Lankan think-tank was hardly amused.
Some of the grass will surely be shaved off over the next couple of days, causing the pitch to lose some of its greenish look, but more than the grass, Sri Lankans will be worried about what lies beneath it.
One thing is for sure, the pacers will have a decisive role to play in the first Test between India and Sri Lanka with the pitch promising to be hard and bouncy. The Sri Lankans had a long discussion with curator Sujan Chakraborty before leaving the ground.
The Indian team management, including coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharat Arun, too had a good look at the pitch after the practice session and expressed their satisfaction with it.
It was no surprise really. The character of Eden tracks have changed dramatically after the entire square was re-laid in 2015. Sources close to the Indian team hinted that it could well be the norm in the three-match Test series as Virat Kohli and Co. look to launch their preparations for 'Mission South Africa' here by getting used to similar pitches at home.
"It is going to be pacers' paradise with virtually nothing in it for the spinners," a member of the ground staff said. However, with good bounce on offer, someone like Ravichandran Ashwin may be quite effective.
The ground staff are hopeful that the pitch will yield uniform bounce and come on to the bat nicely.