Sunil Gavaskar, the legendary batsman, criticised the Apex Cricket Council for awarding the Indore Pitch three demerit points after the third Test match ended on Day 3. Australia overpowered India at the Holkar Cricket Ground and won with ease by nine wickets to make the series 2-1 in favour of India with one game remaining.
Gavaskar cited the match between Australia and South Africa from the last year that lasted just two days but wasn’t handled equally. The umpires stated that the Indore pitch had turn from Day 1 and it wasn’t a fair contest between bat and ball. Gavaskar stated that the Gabba pitch for Australia vs South Africa Test also had extra bounce and batting was also really difficult there so why did the council just put demerit points for the Indore pitch.
What did Sunil Gavaskar speak to the media about?
While talking to India Today, Gavaskar spoke about the Indore pitch and compared it with the one at the Gabba a few months back. He said, “One thing I would like to know, there was this Test match in November in Brisbane Gabba, where the match finished in 2 days. How many demerit points did that pitch get and who was the match referee there.”
The match referee Chris Broad handed out the demerit points for the Indore pitch. Broad spoke about the pitch in a media release as well. He said, “The pitch, which was very dry, did not provide a balance between bat and ball, favouring spinners from the start. The fifth ball of the match broke through the pitch surface and continued to occasionally break the surface providing little or no seam movement and there was excessive and uneven bounce throughout the match.”
In the third Test, Australia achieved 197 in the first innings before scoring the necessary 76 runs for victory on the third day morning, while India were bowled out for 109 and 163 in their two innings.
