India vs England 2016: Wankhede Stadium curator says the wicket should turn from the second day

The week-long break for the Indian cricket team ,post their win in the Mohali Test is about to come to an end as not just the hosts but also the visitors begin to hit the ground running once again, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, for the fourth Test of the five-match Test series.

As is the case with most games in India, the pitch is always under the spotlight and it is no different this time around as well. The curator at the venue, Ramesh Mamunkar has given a statement that the 22 yards at the venue will begin to provide purchase for the spinners from the second day onwards.

"It should turn from second day evening, or at least by the third day . There's heavy dew these days, so we're watering the pitch less. We've cut the grass a bit too so that the wicket bears a fresh look for the Test,” he told the Times of India.

The wicket at the venue has been under the scanner, most recently last year during the deciding ODI between India and South Africa last year, when the latter made 438 runs in their 50 overs and the former lost the game by a massive margin of 214 runs.

The then Team Director of India, Ravi Shastri was not one bit happy with the wicket on offer and had an altercation with the curator of the venue at the time, Sudhir Naik.

Extra cover:India vs England 2016: Team management requests for 'bald' pitch ahead of 4th Test against England at Mumbai

The Ranji Trophy scores at the venue have been on the higher side this year and the first game that was played at the ground saw two triple hundreds, courtesy Swapnil Gugale from Maharashtra and Rishabh Pant from Delhi.

One other instance when the pitch was too much favour of the bowlers and spinners, in particular, was in 2004 Border-Gavaskar Test between India and Australia when the wicket began to turn prodigiously from the second day onwards and chasing 107 for a win in the fourth innings, the Australians were bowled out for 93 to hand India a 13-run win in the final Test of the four-match series.

Sachin Tendulkar's 200^th and final Test against the West Indies in 2013 was the last time that the Wankhede Stadium staged a five-day international encounter.