England succumbed to an eight-wicket defeat in the first Ashes Test against Australia at Perth Stadium on Saturday (November 22).
The Three Lions squandered advantage of gaining a handy first innings lead of 40 runs as they were bowled out for 164 in their second essay.
Chasing 205 to win, the hosts stormed to the target in just 28.2 overs as Travis Head smashed a breathtaking 123 off 83 balls.
As the Ashes opener finished in just two days, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar didn't hold back as he pointed out the growing hypocrisy when discussing pitches in the subcontinent compared to those in SENA nations.
Notably, the Kolkata pitch served for the first India versus South Africa Test came under severe scrutiny last week after the match was over inside two days.
“The Perth Test match has ended in less than two days with 32 wickets having fallen, including 19 on the first day, but as yet there’s not a word of criticism about the pitch there. Last year too, 17 wickets fell on Day One at Perth between India and Australia, and I can’t recall a critical word about the pitch, which had more grass on it than usual,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.
In his assessment, the 76-year-old also cited the example of Sydney Test between India and Australia earlier this year, where 15 wickets fell on Day 1.
“The same was in Sydney where 15 wickets fell on Day One. The argument, as enumerated by the curator in Perth last year, was ‘this is Perth, Australia, and you will get bounce’. Fine, but then when the pitch affords turn, why can’t it be accepted that this is India, and there will be turn? If you complain about the bounce, then the counter argument is you can’t play fast bowling. Why is there never a counter argument that you can’t play spin bowling when the pitch affords turn in India?” he added.
A number of former cricketers, including Michael Vaughan, slammed the Eden Gardens surface but similar voices weren't heard about the Perth track.
“Is it the old syndrome of mistake being made by their umpires being called human error, while those errors made by sub-continent umpires was cheating? So similarly, is it that the curators there have no agenda, but those in India do? It’s good to see some of our recently retired cricketers asking questions about 19 wickets falling in a day,” Gavaskar wrote.
“So guys, it’s time to stop pointing fingers at Indian cricket as there are three of the same hand pointing back at you,” he further remarked.
