India and Sri Lanka will not be too wise if they expect a belter at Eden Gardens when it hosts its first international game of 2023 this Thursday.

The Eden pitch, since a change in its nature especially over the last five years, has been firm with even bounce providing a fair bit of assistance to quicks in Test matches.

For the second India-Sri Lanka ODI, it doesn’t appear to be too easy for batters to just go out and smash bowlers to post a big 300-plus total.

“It will be a sporting wicket, having purchase for everyone,” Eden curator Sujan Mukherjee said on Sunday.

“There will be something in it for fast bowlers as well as spinners.

“Batsmen will also get good purchase for their strokes. We’re trying to ensure an enjoyable experience for everyone.”

In the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy matches that were played at the Eden this season back in November, chasing down even 140-plus wasn’t too easy when the team bowling second wasn’t wayward. However, even 170-plus targets were chased down on certain occasions.

In the Vijay Hazare Trophy games which that were staged thereafter, a 270-plus target too had been chased down while teams were also able to defend totals just above or below 220. Even in the India-West Indies T20I series last February, India twice defended totals in excess of 180, though conditions were better for batting in the second half.

It would thus be fair to say that the Eden wicket is least likely to be unforgiving and merciless for the bowlers, as is seen in some other centres in the country.

With a little bit of mowing, rolling and watering left to firm it up, the pitch is expected to be ready by Tuesday. Dew, though, could be a factor in the evening session. So the going might just get a tad easier for the team batting second.

Alongside mopping, the anti-dew spray too could be put to use on match day. “It depends on the weather as well if dew could be a factor or not. But we’ll be having things in place to manage the dew,” Mukherjee, also a former Cricket Association of Bengal secretary (CAB), said.

The last completed ODI at the Eden was back on September 21, 2017, when the Virat Kohli-led India beat Australia by 50 runs. The iconic venue was scheduled to host an India-South Africa one-dayer on March 18, 2020, but it was cancelled owing to the outbreak of Covid-19.

The ticket sales for Thursday’s ODI began on Sunday. “The response wasn’t bad on the opening day. But we’ll be coming to know the actual picture from tomorrow,” a CAB official stated.