Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar made a shocking statement ahead of the 4th Test between India and Australia. He said that the hosts don’t have a strong enough bowling lineup to take 20 wickets in India and that’s why they have prepared to turn pitches so that spinners can come into play and take all the wickets.
“I don’t think that bowling attack is such (strong),” Sunil Gavaskar on why India preparing turning pitches in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023
The series between India and Australia has been enthralling so far. While the two games in Nagpur and Delhi were testimony of India’s dominance at home and how have they fared in the home games since the last decade, the game in Indore was the highlight of the dominant force Australia is.
India made a mockery of visitors in two games and the proof of that has been their innings and 132 runs win in the first game and 6 wickets win in the second game to take a 2-0 lead in the series and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth consecutive time.
But the Australian team staged a sensational comeback in the Indore Test to thump the hosts by 9 wickets. They were outclassed in all the departments and would be looking to make a strong comeback in the last game.
In all three games, the pitches came under scrutiny, especially the Indore pitch which received a fair amount of criticism for the amount of turns it produced. The ball started turning from the first few minutes of the play and the pitch has offered 4.9 degrees of turn, which is so far the most in the series.
"Taking 20 wickets is not going to be easy in India. On a lot of Indian pitches, without your ace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami and a slightly inexperienced Mohammed Siraj."
AdvertisementAgree with Sunil Gavaskar? 🤔#SunilGavaskar #India #INDvsAUS #Cricket #Tests pic.twitter.com/QeF2fBwTkk
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) March 6, 2023
Many fans and pundits have lashed out at the BCCI for the kind of pitches they have prepared. Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has too made a shocking statement. Speaking to India today, he said:
“Taking 20 wickets is not going to be easy in India. On a lot of Indian pitches, without your ace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami and a slightly inexperienced Mohammed Siraj, I don’t think that bowling attack is such (strong). But with a little bit of help from a dry pitch, India can probably take 20 wickets. I think that is the thinking behind preparing such pitches.”
“For India to reach the World Test Championship Final, they did not have any other options,” Sunil Gavaskar on India preparing turning pitches
Gavaskar further went on to say that India didn’t have any other options other than preparing turning pitches as they wanted to qualify for the WTC. He further elaborated:
“For India to reach the World Test Championship Final, they did not have any other options (than producing turning tracks). If you would have had a strong attack, maybe you could have done something different but your strength is your spinners and therefore I think these pitches are being made. You do not want a flat pitch where the batters go out and dominate. These pitches are testing the temperament of the batters.”
The fourth Test between India and Australia will be played on 9th March in Ahmedabad. It remains to be seen what kind of pitch will be on offer for the final game of the series.
