In one of the most radically progressive steps in Indian cricket, the BCCI recently relaid pitches at ten Test centres – Bangalore, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Mohali, Kanpur, Nagpur, Kolkata, Cuttack and Chennai. G Kasturirangan, chairman of the BCCI Grounds and Wickets Committee, spoke to H Natarajan about what to expect during the forthcoming series between India and West Indies. What are the relaid pitches like?
They are sporting wickets with life in them. The bounce will be encouraging for both batsmen and bowlers. The Bangalore wicket, on which England played recently, is a pointer.

Will there be a settling period for these freshly laid pitches?
Relaid tracks take six months to a year to settle down. The problem is that not many people understand the behavioural science of pitch-making. We do not have qualified groundsmen, and so pitch preparations vary with the curators. We will soon be having a seminar for curators to remedy this. Experts from the New Zealand Sports Turf Institute (NZSTI) will be speaking at this seminar, and the idea is for the curators to share their learnings from the seminar with the groundsmen in their centres.

Have matches been played on the newly laid wickets?
Chennai is the only one on which matches have been played so far. The wicket there still needs some rolling and mowing. All the wickets will be thoroughly tested and matches will be played on them in the coming days.

Will there be a sameness to the wickets at the various centres?
All the relaid wickets have the same formula, but the topmost layer – clay – varies from centre to centre. That will make a difference. The clay percentage of soil on Australian wickets, for example, is 83 per cent. The nearest to that in India is Kolkata which has 80 per cent. We will be looking at how these tracks shape up, and we will take the best of the lot as a hallmark against which to fine-tune the rest of the wickets.

Have the practice wickets been relaid as well?
Yes. And we have used the same formula as the one for the match wickets. The outfields have also been worked on. They will be lush, green and porous, making fielding a pleasure.

Can you tell us something about the NZSTI's experts and their opinion of the new wickets?
The NZSTI is renowned worldwide for laying golf courses, football and cricket fields. Its director, Keith McAuliffe, came here twice and then presented a comprehensive project report to the BCCI. There's also William Walmsley, who is an agronomist with 23 years experience. He is an expert in soil, grass selection and wicket science. I was able to learn a lot from him. He went around with me to all the centres where the wickets have been relaid, and he is very happy at the way they have been shaping up.

Are we to assume that the days of spinners winning matches on tailor-made wickets are past?
If you are talking of substandard wickets that tended to favour spinners, yes, that's a thing of the past. But these new wickets will have lots of bounce and bowlers like Anil Kumble will still be a threat.

Do you anticipate interference from the home captain like in the past?
No. The directive of the BCCI is very clear and there is no looking back.

H Natarajan is a senior editor with Wisden Asia Cricket and Wisden.com India

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