Kumble lauds bowlers’ relentless pursuit

A dry pitch – especially so in the good and full length areas – is set to be rolled out in Mohali for the third Test of the series, which India lead 1-0. The expectation is that it would be spin-friendly, like it was against South Africa last year.

There was a time when fast bowlers would look forward to matches at the PCA stadium. There was a time when it was the fastest and bounciest track in the country. India’s current coach Anil Kumble was part of a few of them. He was one of Dion Nash’s six victims in 1999, when New Zealand bundled India for 83. Javagal Srinath returned the kindness with 6 for 45 in a drawn game.

Courtney Walsh and Kenny Benjamin decimated India here in 1994. The Wisden report read: “Only [Navjot Singh] Sidhu was out, but [Manoj] Prabhakar was led off after one over, his nose broken by a ball from Walsh that burst through his helmet grille. That made the Indian batsmen uneasy, especially on a pitch which continued to play true; it retained some bounce to the end and the ball moved in the morning”

Those days, however, are firmly in the past. The last Test played in Mohali was on a …

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