How effective are spinners at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai?
Bangladesh will take on New Zealand tomorrow in the 2023 World Cup at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The Tigers, after a promising start to their World Cup campaign with a six-wicket win over Afghanistan in Dharamshala, went on to face a crushing 137-run defeat to the defending champions England at the same venue on Tuesday.
The change in venue might bring fortune for Bangladesh who have travelled all the way from the northwestern region of India to the southern part of the country where the hot and sunny conditions are expected to suit the Tigers.
The stadium in Chepauk is being presumed to have much more assistance for the spinners, especially after how the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja dominated proceedings to bundle out five-time World Champions Australia for just 199 in India's six-wicket win last Sunday.
But how effective spinners are at this venue?
If the last five ODIs played at this venue are scrutinised, a different scenario can be found. Out of the 76 wickets that fell across the 10 innings in the last five matches at this venue, 46 were scalped by pacers. Spinners could only account for 27 wickets during this period.
Another interesting fact is that pacers were able to get movement and breakthroughs in each of the last five ODIs at the Chidambaram stadium.
Also, the fact that Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood removed three of the Indian top-order batters for naught, reducing India to a precarious three for two inside just two overs in their first World Cup game, was not an anomaly at all at this venue. The pacers alone got a total of 17 wickets in the first 10 overs in the last five ODIs at this venue.
However, pacers getting assistance early in the innings could be a good thing for the Tigers who have a well-equipped fast bowling unit at their disposal. The Tigers will only hope for their fast bowling unit, which has shown great improvement in the last two years or so, to get into the groove after the likes of Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, and Mustafizur Rahman remained ordinary in the first two games.
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