AT BANGALORE, I sometimes challenge the batsmen to hit a four instead of a six! As it’s easier to hit a six in Bangalore stadium, Yuzvendra Chahal says in half-jest about the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. During match four of the IPL 9 three years ago, Chinnaswamy became the first venue of the T20 league to witness 650-plus sixes. Last year, as Chennai Super Kings chased down 205 against Royal Challenges Bangalore, Chinnaswamy had a record 33 maximums hit in an IPL game. RCB had 16 hits over the fence, and CSK bettered it by hammering 17.
It is at the six-hitting haven of the Chinnaswamy Stadium that Virat Kohli’s team will try to salvage the two-match T20 series after the last-ball defeat to Australia in Visakhapatnam.
Robin Uthappa, a batsman who grew up in Bangalore, reckons it’s a combination of two factors: the altitude and the black soil used in the pitch.
It’s nearly 900 metres above sea level, like Johannesburg for example, Uthappa tells The Indian Express. What it means is when you hit the ball in the air, it stays hit – it takes a long time to come back! It also has an interesting effect on the psyche – you know if you hit it decently, it’s going to go, and as a batsman that somehow makes you go for shots more for balls you might not try elsewhere.
Then there is the soil composition. How does black soil help? The thing with black soil is it remains a great batting track for a short while. As black-soil pitches hold up nicely for a day. It might not be great for a Ranji Trophy (game) or Test where as the days go, hitting the ball might not be as easy in Bangalore. But these T20 games or ODIs are just for a day.
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