England won the MCG Test by 4 wickets, registering their first Test win in Australia since 2010-11.
The fourth Test of the Ashes 2025-26 series lasted two days, and the pitch was rated 'unsatisfactory' by the ICC. In the Test, 36 wickets fell in two days as Australia scored 152 and 132, and England scored 110 before pursuing 175 runs to win by four wickets.
According to Uthappa, this wicket was not hard to bat on, and players who had the appropriate mindset to fight it out could have done so.
“See, it’s a dichotomous situation. It’s not like it’s an impossible wicket. There are such wickets in Melbourne, which are very juicy for fast bowlers… I think it’s because of the way cricket is played today,” Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.
Batters struggled to cope with the bounce and seam movement on the MCG pitch, as the curator decided to leave 10 mm of grass on the strip. Uthappa stated that one needed to bat steadily like veteran India batters Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara to succeed on such a pitch.
“I feel like these pitches are unsporty, but if you’ve got the right technique and the right mindset and the fight in you, you’ll be able to figure out a solution for this kind of a wicket also. It’s not a high-scoring game, but it’s not… It won’t be a 300-plus game, but even a 250 on this wicket is possible. You have to fight it out. Play like Puji and Ajinkya Rahane. Definitely, you’ll score runs,” he further noted.
Uthappa also pointed out how Joe Root struggled on that wicket.
“I am saying this with a grain of salt because the way we’re playing Test cricket has now changed. I don’t enjoy it a lot—like the Ashes Test matches that finished in two days. What are we doing to the sport for entertainment? Joe Root looked too lost in that Test match. He didn’t know how to play, play attacking cricket, or play his own way in the second innings. It was quite unfortunate… I empathize with them,” the former Indian wicket-keeper batter said.
England registered their first Test win in Australia since 2010-11 and have avoided the possibility of being whitewashed in the five-Test series. Australia leads the series 3-1, and the final Test will be played from January 4 in Sydney.