CRAP pitch prepared in Indore sees India dodder in first session of BGT series
Yet, for lovers of Test cricket, watching the ball stay low and make life miserable for the batters was a poor sight. The TV experts had their own views as well on the track, but for all those the world over who are watching such a pathetic pitch, it shows India in poor light.
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IND vs AUS 3rd Test in Indore
If pitch preparation is an art, then what the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association has done in Indore deserves brickbats. On Day One of the third Test in the BGT Series on Wednesday, what one saw was a pitch, sub-standard in every sense. There is no way the first session in a Test match sees so much of help for the spinners. Just that, this time, it was the Indian team at the receiving end, literally.
The sense of outrage and condemnation for the Indore track is understandable as this is not what one wants to see on a first day, where the pitch has to be fresh. For all the talk of mixed soil, black and red in color and how it has been mixed and prepared, the low bounce was a nightmare.
It was a mix of low bounce, turn and lack of application from the batters which saw India fumble, even though Shubman Gill, in for KL Rahul played a short and sweet knock before getting out for 21, stumped by Alex Carrey off Matthew Kuhnemann. Considering that the Aussies went into the Test with fast bowler Mitch Starc and Cameron Green, the spinners came on early.
These days, when every inch of action is caught on camera, the quality of pitch is pathetic. One can imagine fast bowlers to have a go on a green surface on Day One but it was very different in Indore. Call it gaffes from the Indian batters, showing a lack of application and using the horizontal bat on a twisty track, the first seven Indian wickets which fell made for a sad sight. And this, after Rohit Sharma should have perished in the first over itself.
For Indore to be picked as a Test host city is dubious
Sample this, the Aussies have gone in with three spinner, hoping to change the tide in the third Test after getting bamboozled in the first two Tests in Nagpur and New Delhi. The sense of outrage, calling the pitch all kinds of names and how poor it is in quality should ruffle feathers of the MPCA, the host centre affiliated to the BCCI.
Back to the pitch, for Indore to be picked as a Test host city is dubious. It has hosted two Tests before but people still remember this venue as one which got banned many years when an ODI between India and Sri Lanka had to be abandoned after just 18 balls were bowled. On Wednesday, the Aussies will not mind it that they got such a helpful pitch, where there was bite and turn.
Yet, for lovers of Test cricket, watching the ball stay low and make life miserable for the batters was a poor sight. The TV experts had their own views as well on the track, but for all those the world over who are watching such a pathetic pitch, it shows India in poor light. Agreed, the Aussie spinners Matthew Kuhnemann, Todd Murphy and Nathan Lyon (three wickets) before lunch looked menacing. But then, to see spinners being pressed into action by stand-in captain Sandpaper Steve Smith, was a reflection of how the visitors are aware of how to read the pitch.
Poor tracks are bad advertisement for Test cricket and the ICC match referee will surely offer his rating. That will come later but the social media and expert view is already out: Crap Pitch.
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S Kannan
(382 Articles Published)