IND vs ENG: A typical Indian Test in English conditions? Rohit Sharma, Ben Stokes ponder over pitch, conditions in Dharamsala | Cricket News

Can the chill in the air, snow-peaked mountain range, quaint rural setting, a modest stadium complex with Victorian touch make Dharamsala seem like England? Those dealing with confusion over geography, and there are many, would have missed the all-important 22 yards on the centre of the lush green field of the stadium where India, having taken a winning 3-1 lead, play England for the fifth and final Test.Under the cloudy sky, men with woollens worked on the whitish-brown pitch that was devoid of any grass. On the face of it, England might be feeling at home until they got a first-hand feel of the track which Rohit Sharma called “typically Indian”. England captain Ben Stokes has already discarded thoughts of playing three seamers and taken the less-adventurous mid-path of playing ‘2 spinners, 2 pacers’.
Pacer Ollie Robinson makes way for the much speedier Mark Wood from the last Test. But despite the team announcement, the playing XI isn’t etched in stone. Change could be expected on match day since England’s most impressive player on the tour Shoaib Bashir missed training because of an upset stomach.

📍 Dharamsala ⛰️
Getting series finale READY 👍 👍#TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/bjtFD6y3EK
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 5, 2024
At the venue where the weather changes every 15 minutes, there were enough misleading signals to confuse the mind. After trooping to the stadium wearing several layers, the workforce, busy giving final touches to the ground, would discard their jackets, mufflers and beanies noon time. The popular narrative that England were home away from home took a beating all day.
Towards the end of the press conference where he had to face endless questions about the Dharamsala being pseudo-England, Rohit had enough. He would shake his head to convey that they were not in some alien land, they all have been here before several times. He would first start spelling out the exact behaviour of a Dharamsala track but, in tune with the mood of the day, would go on to add a rider.
“Obviously, when you have weather like that, you have to expect there will be some movement and in the evening it goes on to spin,” he said. So will the ball turn on the pitch? “Maybe, maybe not.”
The locals, meanwhile, have an interesting take on the pitch. Like the dry skin that cracks in winter, the surface too gets wrinkly. Since the temperature had dipped and rains had lashed the venue last week, the pitch had been covered. If training area pitches can be taken as samples – they too have the same soil quality and been covered – the bounce has not been true. Several batsmen were seen complaining of lesion-like cracks that had made batting difficult.

Walk with us to the middle…
Is this the most beautiful ground in the world? 🤔🏔😱#INDvENG | #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/ejZvQ1dji5
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 5, 2024
So is this going to be an archetypical Indian Test under English conditions? Rohit wouldn’t allow even that thought to rest peacefully in the mind. England might have gone with two pacers – James Anderson and Wood – with Ben Stokes not committing if he would bowl but India didn’t rule out the possibility of playing three special new ball bowlers.
What made the call on the Indian bowling line-up difficult was not the conditions but the quality. With Jasprit Bumrah returning, he would lead the pack with Mohammad Siraj as his deputy. The dilemma could be over the inclusion of Akash Deep, the bowler who impressed with pace and movement on the first morning of his debut Test in Ranchi. On Tuesday, he did enough at the nets on match eve to figure in the team selection discussion later in the day.

WATCH 📽️
If #cricket stadiums had a beauty pageant, #Dharamsala would be the popular choice to get the Miss World crown. No wonder 5,000 English fans have travelled to the foothills of the Dhauladhar range for the 5th #INDvsENG Test. Sandeep Dwivedihttps://t.co/zVCyW9rMzw pic.twitter.com/MQi3fcskdL
— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) March 5, 2024
Bowling full tilt, he would trouble all the batsmen at the nets. Middle-order batsman Rajat Patidar, whose place in the side is under intense scrutiny, struggled to negotiate Akash Deep’s spell. He would edge, lose his stumps and get beaten outside off the stump. Coach Rahul Dravid would pat Akash Deep’s back and with a smile, send him back on the top of his run. And as Patidar stamped the dislodged stumps back its position with his bat, Devdutt Padikkal, all padded up, stood waiting for his turn at the nets. That one frame captured their selection dilemma for the team management. Though the word from the dressing room says that Patidar will get the game but his iffy morning session with the bat might give the team management second thoughts.

The one takeaway from the England training session was Anderson’s short and smart bowling stint on the practice pitch on the central square. Sitting behind his arm gave an idea about his longevity, skill and the degree of difficulty of batsmen who face him. With uncanny regularity, he would pitch his sharply angled ball at a spot just beyond the stride of a batsman in the crease and make it race towards the slip. It was a ball that is nightmarish for any right-hander in the world early in the innings.
With rain expected on Day One, regardless of the pitch condition, if England get to bowl first, India’s top order will have the Anderson high hurdle to clear at the start of the innings. If there is a cloud cover, he wouldn’t need help from the surface to make the ball talk. Dharamsala would surely give him the feel of a gloomy and rainy Manchester, his home where he is unplayable. But he wouldn’t have much time. Within minutes, Dharamsala can turn to Ranchi and Rajkot.

Rohit shared a Zen thought that would come handy to those having a bad day at this charmingly unpredictable picturesque venue with a stunning backdrop. “The view is so nice from the ground. If there’s pressure, we’ll try to just turn around and look towards the mountain and we’ll cool down.”