Preparing Rank Turners 'Act Of Desperation' From India? Ex-Spinner Answers
The pitches for the first two Tests were rated 'average' by the ICC but the third Test pitch was given 'poor' rating.
Even before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy started, the 'pitch talk' gained most of the attention, with many former players and media outlets in Australia accusing the Indian team of 'doctoring' the pitches. Some even feel that the preparation of 'rank turners' in the first three Tests was an act of desperation from India, in their bid to reach the World Test Championship final. When former India spinner Pragyan Ojha was asked about the same, he ridiculed the talk and referred to skipper Rohit Sharma's comment, suggesting India are only trying to carve out a 'result'.
"What is the definition of Test cricket? It is a test of your skill, and your mental and physical strength. The beauty of home and away series is that when you go to somebody's home, you face a different challenge which you have not faced. When we go to SENA countries the challenges are different, similarly for those teams when they come to India. In SENA countries, the wickets are slightly greener, there is some lateral movement. In Australia there is a little bit of bounce. In the subcontinent, the track helps the spinners. So calling India desperate in that aspect, I wouldn't agree to it because everyone has the option of playing to their strength," Ojha told Hindustan Times.
The former spinner feels that India have only tried to make the game 'more exciting' by preparing the kind of pitches they did.
"It's just a strategy and it helps in making the game more exciting. I really like the way Rohit Sharma said, when you play a full five-day Test match, there is a lot of people have said that the wickets were not good in other countries and it was not giving any result, so when you get result and see some excitement in the game, that is what you are here for," he asserted.
It also has to be noted that the third Test pitch (Indore), was rated "poor" by the ICC. In comparison, the pitches for the first two Tests were rated "average".
India Cricket Team
Australia Cricket Team
Pragyan Ojha