Legendary India opener Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the pitch that was made for the fourth Ashes 2025-26 Test between Australia and England that was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from December 26 onwards.

Australia had retained the Ashes after winning the first three tests in Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide and was on the lookout for a series whitewash. England came into the Test with its reputation on the line.

However, the focus was totally shifted to the pitch that had 10 mm of grass left on it and made life difficult for the batters, as 20 wickets fell on the first day, with Australia making 152 and England getting bowled out for 110.

Despite a decent lead, Australia only managed 132 runs in the second innings, and despite losing six wickets, England managed to successfully chase the 175-run target.

The pitch was rated ‘unsatisfactory’ by the match referee, Jeff Crowe, and was awarded one demerit point.

Sunil Gavaskar, a former Indian cricketer, stated in his column that if it had been someone else, the world would have "broken loose."

“Ben Stokes also gets full marks for saying at the end of the farcical game called a Test match in Melbourne that if there was a pitch like that anywhere else in the world (read India), then all hell would have broken loose. Not surprisingly, many have come to the defense of the curator, sorry, Director of Turf, and suggested it was an honest mistake in leaving so much grass on the pitch. It’s exactly like in the old times that whenever an English and Australian umpire made wrong decisions, then it was a ‘human error,’ while mistakes made by the sub-continent umpires were ‘cheating,’” wrote Gavaskar in his column for Mid-Day.

Gavaskar further highlighted the double standards prevalent in the ICC while naming the umpires who have erred.

“Even today, despite the ICC panel of umpires officiating in games, a mistake made by them is often mentioned with their name and country, suggesting that it was incompetence or more, while similar mistakes by umpires from the so-called developed countries get overlooked as if they were insignificant to the result of the match,” said Gavaskar.

Curator Matthew Page acknowledged that he was shocked by how his team's prepared pitch turned out. Although the Test match was "captivating" in and of itself, Page claimed that his side didn't do enough to make sure the game lasted long enough.

“I’ve never been involved in a Test match like it, and hopefully I’m not involved in a Test match like it again. We know this hasn’t gone as we planned. We will look at what we need to do to improve. I was in a state of shock after the first day. We’re obviously disappointed that it’s been gone for two days. We produced a test that was captivating, but it hasn’t gone on long enough. We’ll learn from that and make sure we get it right next year,” the MCG curator told the media after the fourth Ashes Test.

Australia and England are currently engaged in the fifth and final Test in Sydney, which began on January 4