Many former Australians have raised concerns about the Nagpur pitch which is set to host the first match of the four-match Test series between India and Australia on Thursday, February 9. Every time a Test series is held in India, accusations of the hosts preparing a wicket that overwhelmingly suits them are made.
Australian Journalist and senior cricket expert Robert Craddock also talked about the same and accused the Nagpur pitch curators of Pitch Doctoring ahead of the first test. He said on SEN’s podcast, “It’s a multi-toned pitch. The classic saying about pitches is, ‘Oh, it’s the same for everyone”.
“When the Gabba pitch too much grass was left on it, people were saying, ‘Yes, it was not a great wicket, but it was the same everyone. But you can’t say that about this pitch, Australia has six left-handers in their top eight, so if you start multi-preparing parts of the deck that’s straight-up pitch doctoring, it’s poor,” he said.
There should be an official referee at the game: Simon O’Donnell
Former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie also told on SEN, “I think the Indian curators are looking at a way for India to have an advantage. They potentially think spin will play a huge role and that for the best chance to beat Australia will be to play to their strength.”
Meanwhile, another Australian expert and former cricketer Simon O’Donnell said the apex cricket body should intervene, “The apex cricket body should step in and do something about it if they think it’s not right.
“If they think the pitch is not right, there’ll be an official referee at the game and the governing body of cricket will be watching this game. But there’s so many when it comes to India, we have all of these discussions, and nothing seems to happen.”
There has always been a close fight between India and Australia. Although Australia have not been able to beat the Men in Blue in India since 2004 in the longest format, the Kangaroos will put extra effort this time to win the series, while the Indian team must win the series in order to confirm their spot in the Test Championship final.
Here is how Twitter reacted
So the excuse for losing is already done
— slugger 🔴⚫️⚪️🧀 (@saintslugger) February 8, 2023
This time cry babies tour india
Full time crying hard only 😭😭😭😭😭😭🤣🤣🤣🤣
— Lokesh mehra (@Lokeshmeh96) February 8, 2023
Eat, Sleep, Cry, Repeat
— Cricketbugs (@Cricketbugs0) February 8, 2023
Australian cricket should stop crying. India never complained about fast and bouncy pitches in Australia. Crying baby.😢😢
— AP (@beleiveinkarma4) February 8, 2023
Cry loud … no one hears you
— Karthik (@Karthik_nmhss) February 8, 2023
Its gonna be a long one month for aussies to cry abt pitches.. keep crying
— Prateek Dwivedi (@__prtk) February 8, 2023
Anything is agreeable other than using sandpaper to roughen up the surface
— Harikishan (@itzzmeHK) February 8, 2023
Forgot Sandpaper?
— Quit Smoking 🇮🇳 (@siva_darsi) February 8, 2023
