Turner at the Wankhede, a sports ground in Ahmedabad and a surface in Delhi that did not allow for sharp turns – India’s last three home Tests offered three very different games of cricket. Two of them, against the West Indies, ended in easy wins. But the one before that – the 2024 Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede – saw India collapse to 121 chasing 147, spun by Ajaz Patel’s left-arm magic.
If there’s one takeaway, it’s this: no two Indian home Tests feel the same anymore.
Travel around the Indian test map and see how diverse it has become. Chennai and Nagpur have always revolved around each other. Bengaluru and Kolkata can range between fast and slow, depending on the soil and the season. And then there are the outliers – Guwahati and Cuttacks – where the red ball feels almost alien.
So when India play Tests across the country, the idea of home advantage starts to blur.
It’s that inconsistency Ravichandran Ashwin recently highlighted on your YouTube channel. The spinner argued that Test cricket, which has spread to unfamiliar locations, will often leave the Indian team guessing as much as their opponents.
“In Guwahati, when you play South Africa, maybe India will trouble them. But just because it’s part of India’s map, it doesn’t automatically become a real home game,” Ashwin said. “As the home team, we didn’t know what to expect.
And he’s right. It’s one thing to play at home. Another is to know your home.
So when India play Tests across the country, the idea of home advantage starts to blur.
But Ashwin is not the only one thinking about the field. After India’s win over West Indies in Delhi, the head coach Gautam Gambhir expressed his own frustration – not with where India plays, but what it plays for.
He described the Delhi surface as a “disservice” to Indian fast bowlers.
“There has to be something for the fast bowlers as well,” Gambhir said. “When you have two quality pacers like Bumrah and Siraj, you want them to be in the game.
Gambhir’s anger was not just about that one Test. It was about what kind of cricket India should represent.
“We all have a responsibility to keep Test cricket alive,” he added. “The first thing to do is to play on good surfaces.”
In a way, Gambhir and Ashwin describe two halves of the same puzzle. One is worried about venues. The other is worried about goals. Together, they reveal something bigger – a country that dominates the world in Test cricket but doesn’t know where or how it wants to play at home.
INDIA IS ROTATING HOME
To understand how scattered India’s Test landscape has become, it’s worth looking at where they’ve hosted their biggest opponents over the past decade. TEST DATA (Photo India Today)
Look closely and you’ll notice a pattern—or rather, the lack of one.
Indian Test venues keep changing from one series to the next. No opponent has a solid center. Instead, rotation policy, BCCI policy and logistical trade-offs mean that Tests are scattered wherever a slot in the calendar opens up.
If Dharamsala hosts a T20I match, it is unlikely to get a Test that season. If it’s the state association’s turn, they get it, it’s that simple. And this coincidence has consequences.
WHEN THE FAMOUS PLAYGROUND CHANGES FOREIGN
Take the Australian series in 2023 – four Tests, four different surfaces. Nagpur started turning from day one – a traditional surface where India won. Delhi was low and slow, again a surface that India knew and won on. It was a ferocious turner at Indore that turned against the tide impressively. From Ahmedabad, it was a flat package good enough for a 500-run draw.
A year later against England, India swung the other way. Four sporting wickets after a slow turnaround in Hyderabad saw India win the series 4-1. Hyderabad, the opening Test of the series was the only one where India lost. Contrast that with 2021, when England were fed three spinners after a flat opener in Chennai.
There is no through line. No pitch philosophy. Just a reaction to the sides you’re playing against.
Under Virat Kohli, India had a very different philosophy. The team was chasing results, not averages. Rotation from day one was the order. Under Rohit Sharma, there was an effort to balance the surfaces to keep Bumrah and Siraj relevant. Both approaches have their advantages – and their opposites.
Because when you start imposing nature – turning Pune or Bengaluru into spinning tracks they were never meant to be – you create chaos.
Ashwin knows this very well. In the home Test series against New Zealand in 2024, India failed spectacularly – losing 3-0 against Tom Latham’s side.
“The ball doesn’t naturally spin that much in Pune,” he said. “If you try to break the wicket and force spin, the bounce becomes shaky. We played two Tests there (vs AUS and vs NZ) – we lost both.”
But then he added something more revealing.
“Nagpur is a naturally dry surface. It helps turn. Batters know what to expect. That makes it a real home advantage.”
It’s not just about spin or seam. It’s about predictability. Knowing what the course will do on Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5 is what defines home.
WHAT SHOULD BE INDIA’S PITCH ROADMAP?
So, where does India go from here? One possibility is strategic mapping – setting certain locations for certain opponents.
If a team struggles against spin like England or West Indies, play them in Chennai, Nagpur or Delhi. If a team has top-class spinners like Australia or New Zealand, take them to Mumbai, Bengaluru or Dharamsala.
In this way, India maintain their tactical edge and develop a sense of familiarity – the bowlers learn their lengths, batting pace.
The second option is philosophical – to strive for balance everywhere. Build good, flat surfaces all over the country and let the best team win. The fans would get variety and the players would get consistency. Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah in action against the West Indies in the home Test series (AP Photo)
Both ways are fine. But right now, India is stuck in between – changing venues, changing pitches and changing mindsets.
As Ashwin said, “Sometimes I feel India are playing away from home, even at home.”
At the heart of India’s home Tests is a surprisingly simple question: where are the matches being played. Right now, site selection depends on rotation policies, logistics, and limited event plans, not a long-term plan. Result? India rarely play back-to-back series at the same ground and even at home, both the team and their opponents often feel like visitors.
A direct solution could go a long way. Assign fixed centers for specific tours – Dharamsala, Bengaluru and Mumbai for New Zealand; Delhi, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata for Australia – and the pitches suddenly start to make sense. Players know what to expect, teams can plan better and the competition feels fairer.
Then comes the question of the playgrounds themselves. Offering something for both batsmen and bowlers, the balanced surfaces will ensure that the best team wins in all departments, without surprise collapses or chaotic spinners. Fixtures could also rotate between opponents over time, allowing fans to see a wider range of international teams instead of the same few on the same pitch.
In short, fix the venues first, then fix the pitch. Do that and India’s home advantage stops feeling like guesswork and starts feeling like it’s meant to be — a real advantage, both for the players and the fans in the stands.
– The end
Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
October 17, 2025
