“Our groundsmen do it deliberately, theirs just get it wrong,” Indian legend points out the double standard of English media over debate on pitches

South African commentator Shaun Pollock, during his pitch report on Day 2 of the second Test ofSouth Africa vs India, said the curators had "got it wrong."

“Our groundsmen do it deliberately, theirs just get it wrong,” Indian legend points out the double standard of English media over debate on pitches

SA vs IND (Image via ESPNcricinfo)

India and South Africa recently played a two-match Test series. And while Rohit Sharma and his men lost the first Test, they clinched victory in the second Test within one and a half days with India winning the match. That Test in South Africa became the shortest Test that produced a result in the history of cricket.

Right from Day 1, there was intense debate around the pitch of Cape Town’s Newlands Cricket Ground. South Africa got bundled out for 55 runs, while India could reach 153 in their first innings. A total of 23 wickets were lost on the first day.

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South African commentator Shaun Pollock, during his pitch report on Day 2, said the curators had “got it wrong.” Reports from other English outlets about the curator’s bad job made Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar call out their double standards over the pitch debate. He said when SENA teams play in India and find it difficult to play on the turning pitches, the media accuse India of deliberately preparing such pitches to make it hard for the visiting teams to play.

So our groundsmen do it deliberately, but their groundsmen just get it wrong. It's like before the third country umpires came in, where decisions by their umpires were excused as 'human error' while our umpires were cheats and 'Delhi Butchers' and all such derogatory headlines.
Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day

Sunil Gavaskar backs Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for 2024 T20 World Cup

The T20 World Cup will be played in June this year. In the Indian cricket fraternity, there is an intense debate over whether the two senior players, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, should be included in the squad.

Indian pitch
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma (Image via ESPNcricinfo)

There are several reports that claimed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would not include the two greats of the game in the World Cup. Kohli and Rohit have not featured in any T20Is since playing in the semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup.

However, Sunil Gavaskar opined the selectors must include the current captain and the former captain in the squad. Gavaskar said the selectors must keep in mind how good Rohit and Kohli are at fielding.

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