Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has slammed all those who claimed that the pitch for the first Test between India and Australia in VCA Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur has been severely doctored by the hosts to suit their needs.
These claims came after photos of the pitch two days before the Test’s commencement on February 9 went viral on social media. The photos showed the pitch being watered in the middle, but the area near the stumps was left barren, especially around the left-hander’s stance.
Given that India has no front-line batsmen that are left-handers and Australia could have five, the curators have been accused of creating a wicket that will significantly disadvantage the away side.
Ravi Shastri has described those claims as ‘bulls**t’ and called it more hype than anything.
“That’s bulls—t. It’s more hype than anything else surrounding this first Test match. It always happens, you get 15mm grass, 18mm grass or 12mm grass in different places around the ground … at the end of this first Test, I’m sure there’ll be someone who scores a hundred.
If someone can get a hundred or 80+ on that pitch, they’ve played well and he will go and say, ‘What’s wrong with the pitch? You stay there, you apply yourself, your shot selection is good, you get runs’. But if you go out there and think you’re going to smash every ball, good luck to you,” Shastri told SEN Sporstday.
Furthermore, Shastri said that India is well within its rights to do whatever they want when it comes to the pitch and Australia will just have to put up and shut up.
“If the ball is going to turn from there, so be it. So what? It’s home conditions, do what suits you, both teams have to play on the surface, there’s a match referee who is the boss, it’s as simple as that. We never complained about pitches, in my career we never complained about a simple pitch.
No excuses, just get on with it, at the end of three days no one’s going to get killed on that surface. The quality of the camera lenses is so good, they can make green grass look brown, that’s what you expect in India, come on,” Shastri added.
Looking at pitches in Australia, Shastri doesn’t believe pitches are specifically designed to suit the home team but do suit the style of cricket they like to play.
“I wouldn’t say designed for the Australians. Of course, when you look at the bounce, the pace, the grass of those surfaces (it suits Australia). I just watched a Test between Australia and South Africa and it was great, but when I woke up on the third day there was no cricket,” he pointed out.
India and Australia will play the first Test in Nagpur on February 9.
(SEN Sportsday)
