“Lot of talk around pitches,” Rahul Dravid speaks about Ahmedabad pitch and ICC’s ‘poor’ rating for Indore pitch

He said the team's focus is on securing a place at the ICC World Test Championship Final and that Indore's pitch rating was the match referee's decision.

“Lot of talk around pitches,” Rahul Dravid speaks about Ahmedabad pitch and ICC’s ‘poor’ rating for Indore pitch

IND vs AUS 4th Test will be played in Ahmedabad

The pitch talk started even before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and may end only after the fourth Test in Ahmedabad. At first, the Australian media accused the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of a ‘doctored pitch’ in Nagpur. The Nagpur Test saw the visitors lose by an innings and 132 runs. The Delhi pitch, where the Aussies lost by six wickets, did not invite many discussions.

But the Indore Test, right from the beginning of the start of the match, became a talking point of the town. This time, Australia, led by Steve Smith (because regular skipper Pat Cummins went home to be with his ailing mother) registered a thumping victory by nine wickets.

Right after the victory, International Cricket Council’s (ICC) match referee Chris Broad did a reading of the pitch, only to give it a ‘poor’ rating. Now reports have emerged that the BCCI is going to challenge ICC’s verdict.

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Ravul Dravid says it doesn’t matter whether he agrees with the referee’s reading or not 

Rahul Dravid talks about Ahmedabad pitch and ICC's 'poor' rating to Indore pitch
Rahul Dravid

Ahead of the fourth Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India’s head coach Rahul Dravid was quizzed about the pitches at a pre-match press conference on Tuesday (March 7). Dravid said that whatever is the pitch, the team has to learn how to play on them.

“The pitch looks okay. Lot of talk around pitches. Whatever it is, we have to learn to play on them,” he said. The former India player then talked about the ICC’s verdict of the Indore pitch. He said the team’s focus is on securing a place at the ICC World Test Championship Final and that Indore’s pitch rating was the match referee’s decision.

“Won’t go too much into it. The match referee is entitled to make his opinion, share his thoughts on the pitch. It doesn’t matter whether I agree with his reading or not. With WTC points at stake, you look to play on wickets that produce results,” the 50-year-old added.

The pitches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy have been spin-friendly with all three Tests ending within three days. Only one player scored a century, that is India captain Rohit Sharma, in Nagpur. India’s highest innings total was 400 in Nagpur, while Australia crossed the 200-run mark only once across six innings.

The fourth Test will get underway on Thursday (March 9) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, and pitch talk has already started. India have retained the trophy and will be hoping for another victory at the series finale to advance to the WTC Final.

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