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India v Pakistan, 3rd Test, Bangalore

Home disadvantage for India

Mathew Varghese

December 7, 2007

The last time India and Pakistan met in Bangalore, the visiting team were down 1-0 and bounced back with a victory to level the series. They need to do the same in order to avoid defeat in the ongoing series, and can take heart from the fact that they have never lost to India at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Anil Kumble will be playing his first Test as captain in Bangalore, his home town, but the Chinnaswamy Stadium has not been a happy hunting ground for India of late. The hosts have failed to win in the last five Tests here, and have lost four of those. Their last victory came more than 12 years ago, against New Zealand.

Kumble is the leading wicket-taker in Tests in Bangalore, but he's taken his 35 wickets at an average of 30.85, far higher than his average of 23.75 in Tests in India. The other frontline bowlers in the present squad haven't had much success either.

Danish Kaneria and Mohammad Sami are the only bowlers in the Pakistan line-up to have played a Test in Bangalore. In 2005, they played a key role in bowling Pakistan to victory, sharing 12 of India's 20 wickets between them, with Shahid Afridi - who is not in this team - taking five wickets for 43 runs.

That match, though, will be remembered more for Younis Khan's 267, the highest score at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. He scored a total of 351 in the Test, while Inzamam-ul-Haq, the captain at the time, made 215 runs in what was his 100th Test.

Among India's current frontline batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar has a good record but the rest - including homeboy Rahul Dravid - have been below par at the ground. In fact Kumble, with an average of 31.28, has performed better than many of the frontline batsmen currently in the team.

Winning the toss and batting first is the preferred choice in Bangalore, and only once has a team won the toss and fielded first. India took that route against West Indies in the inaugural game at the ground, and ended up on the losing side. The side batting first has won seven and lost only three of the 16 Tests played.

Spinners have been used more than the quick bowlers in the last five Tests in Bangalore, but pace has been slightly more effective than spin.

India's poor record in recent Tests here is obvious from the table below - the difference between the runs they score and concede per wicket is nearly 20.

Mathew Varghese is an editorial assistant at Cricinfo

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