Before the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a series played under the ICC World Test Championship umbrella, Indian turning tracks became the talk of the town. The third Test has been wrapped up, but the debate surrounding the pitches hasn’t subdued a bit. From Nagpur to Indore, pitches proved helpful for the spinners, and matches ended within three days.
On Friday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) rated the Nagpur and New Delhi pitches “average“, but called the Holkar Stadium pitch in Indore pitch “poor“, leaving it in danger of a ban from hosting international matches. Match referee Chris Broad called the pitch very dry, as it did not provide a balance between bat and ball, favoring the spinners from the start, and providing little or no seam movement. Due to these reasons, the Holkar pitch received three demerit points.
But former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar did not agree with ICC’s verdict at all. He agreed that the track was difficult to bat on, but labeling it as poor was a “harsh” decision. He believes that if the pitch was difficult to bat on, then Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne wouldn’t have stitched over a 90-plus run stand between them.
Sunil Gavaskar says if Indore was tough but batters did score runs
He reminded everyone about the Gabba pitch in Brisbane, which is famous for its excessive bounce. The Test match played between South Africa and Australia ended in two days, after which, ICC’s match referee Richie Richardson rated the pitch as “below average“.
“One thing I would like to know, there was this Test match in November in Brisbane Gabba, where the match finished in two days,” Gavaskar said in a conversation with India Today. “How many demerit points did that pitch get and who was the match referee there?” Gavaskar added that on the Gabba pitch, the ball was flying around and fast bowlers looked dangerous. “There was a threat to life and limb on that pitch.”
“I think three demerit points is a little harsh, because, in this pitch, yes the ball turned, but it was not dangerous. When Australia gets to a score of 77 for the loss of one wicket it actually tells you that the pitch got a lot better,” he added.
India entered the stadium with a 2-0 lead for the third Test, but they were bundled out for 109, after which they restricted the visitors to 197 runs. With an 88-run lead, Australia skittled out the hosts for 163 to get a target of 76 runs, which they easily reached on Day 3 to end the match in their favor. This was India’s third defeat on home soil in the last decade. The fourth Test will be played in Ahmedabad from March 9.
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